


ATEEZ's One and Only Dragon Idol!

by RawrSharks



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst with a Happy Ending, Dragon Maid!AU, Dragon!Mingi, Epilogue Smut, Fluff, M/M, Panic Attacks, Slice of Life, Slow Updates, Violence, Yes there's sex, but you gotta get through 9 chapters of rawdog fluff and plot though, long chapters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-11
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-02-28 07:08:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 31,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22669819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RawrSharks/pseuds/RawrSharks
Summary: When Jongho came across a dragon in the woods, he was convinced that he was dreaming. But nearly 10 years later he learns that it was all very real, the dragon's name is Mingi, he likes long walks on the beach, and wants to become an idol with him to take over the globe with "world domination."Jongho is still debating whether that means he's fucked or not.--Or the weeb crossover no one asked for
Relationships: Choi Jongho/Song Mingi, Choi San/Jung Wooyoung/Kang Yeosang
Comments: 14
Kudos: 69





	1. Reoccurring Nightmare

**Author's Note:**

> So y'all ever see Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid? Well, that's this fic, but its Mingi and he wants to be idol boyfriends with Jongho. If you haven't, totally do yourself a favor and watch that adorable anime! It has the lesbians!! And dragons!!! Seriously, what more do you want?!
> 
> You don't need to watch it to understand what's going on here but I recommend it regardless.
> 
> ! Warning ! This ain't even read for spelling errors, I will not apologize for it.

Jongho remembers when his family went camping to get out of the city one summer when he was a child. He remembers because that weekend he saw a dragon.

//

He was crying, because he was lost and scared. The trees of the forest were so tall, and he was so small. They closed around him on all sides, and he couldn’t tell one from another. His mother told him to look out for the blue ribbons tied to their branches, because those trees would lead him back to their tent at the campsite. But when he looked around, turning in a full-body circle, there were no blue ribbons in sight, and his mom was no longer next to him to point them out.

Jongho cried harder as he shuffled forward, trying to find his way even as sharp sticks and rocks poked into his bare feet. He had wanted to stick his feet in the cool river his family had spotted earlier on their hike. Now the sun was starting to go down, and he couldn’t find the river or their tent or the blue ribbons and he wanted to go home to his blanket fort where it was warm instead of climbing a stupid, cold, scary mountain.

“Mama!” He cried out, his voice hoarse and cracking before the trees ate his words up with their solid wall of quiet. No one answered his call. Up ahead, he saw the trees start to thin out to form the edge of a clearing and though his feet ached he broke out into a sprint, already shrieking for his parents. But there was no camping site in the field.

Instead, all Jongho could see was scales, teeth, and enormous, red wings. His feet kept running with a frenzied mind of their own, and he ran right into the snout of a dragon. With a small cry he fell down onto his butt, and from there his head tilted way back in wonder and terror at the huge creature. Finally, someone had heard him, but as one large, green eye slit open, Jongho was no longer sure that was a good thing.

“You dare disturb me in my final hours, foolish human?” The dragon spoke with a voice so deep it rumbled the very ground. In that voice spoke power and death and ageless cruelty. Jongho’s legs shook uselessly under him, but he had no more tears left to cry. He looked at the dragon closer and could see that its red scales were glistening in the setting sun, covered with trickles of black blood.

“You’re bleeding?” He said meekly. The dragon blinked in surprise at him. Its long neck twisted to look back at its body before it slowly licked at his wounds.

“Yes.” It said, its mouth coming away stained black and dripping. “Like I said, my final hours.”

“But you’re all alone!” Despite the fact that he himself was also all alone, he knew that it was bad and cruel to be alone while hurt. It wasn’t allowed. Jongho reached out a tiny hand to pet along the dragon’s nose but was met with a growl from the beast.

“Yes, I am dying and alone. Run off, child. I am trying to pass away in a painless sleep.”

The dragon let out a roar strong enough to send Jongho tumbling over himself back into the trees. Birds scattered into the sky and the dragon watched them with longing, its bloodied wings twitching to take flight as well. But it was too weak to even stand up from the ground. That was how lowly it had fallen, a cruel fate indeed. Cowering behind a thick trunk, Jongho could tell the dragon did not want to die, that it had been forced to become accepting of its death. He also knew there was little he could do to help. Spreading out in the grass, the blood had already pooled so thick.

“I can help… you sleep.”

“Don’t be stupid.” The dragon closed its eyes, already dismissing him, and Jongho felt his face flush with embarrassment. But still he crept closer and started to sing. The first few notes were gentle and soft, yet the dragon’s eyes snapped open again to see him. He didn’t stop singing, going through the lullaby he would sing with his mother every night before bed. While she stroked his hair, she would always tell him what a beautiful voice he had, how he could sweetly sing any angel to sleep.

This was what he can do. He can give the dragon this last gift. Slowly, song after song, he sang until the dragon relaxed into a light daydream. And he would not leave its side. Jongho would always remember the day he sang the dying dragon to sleep.

What if we had a dream together?

//

But he would not always remember that day well. Jongho turned one of Seonghwa’s Toothless plushies over in his hands. The little, black dragon was soft and designed to be overly, cartoonishly cute. Nothing like the bloodied monster Jongho stumbled upon. He couldn’t remember anything that happened after he sang to the dragon, not even how he managed to get back to his family at their camping ground. He simply woke up there the next morning with his parent sobbing over his safe return. And no matter where or for how long he looked, the dragon was gone.

It was nearly a decade later, and he had started a whole new life as an idol adored around the world with his group. Yet he couldn’t stop picking at the memory. He couldn’t keep it from his mind.

“Please don’t tear his head off.” Seonghwa said, suddenly stepping beside him. Most likely, he was there to call Jongho to dinner, but now he stood next to him worriedly glancing at his little plushie. Jongho laughed easily enough despite his somber mind, and he handed the toy back.

“Don’t worry, he just reminded me of something.” The two boys came into the kitchen to start setting out the plates.

“Reminded you of what?”

“Just a… really strange cat I once saw on the sidewalk.”

Jongho had never told his bandmates about the memory, mostly because he knew no one would believe him. No one had ever believed him when he was a child and now he wasn’t so sure himself whether the memory was really just a dream despite how vividly he remembered that dragon down to the yellow details of its green eyes. It was just one of those weird dreams, best kept to himself, that’s all.

A knock sounded from their door, and everyone paused in their frenzy over dinner and food. Because the knock didn’t come from the front door of their apartment. The glass door to their small balcony rattled again with a forceful knock. Jongho set his stack of plates down and inched his way over to it.

“What do you think that is?” San asked out loud only to answer his own question a moment later. “Maybe a tree branch? It wasn’t supposed to be that windy tonight though.”

“That and there’s no trees around in like a mile radius.” Yeosang deadpanned. No one had a clue what the knocking could be, but they all quietly followed behind Jongho to get a closer look. The blinds on the door were drawn, so no one could see what was on the other side.

“Hello?” Yunho called out. No answer. As Jongho wrapped a hand around the handle the door completely shattered into a pile of glass, plastic and curtains.

Wiping the dust from his tearing eye, Jongho gasped as he came face to face with the red snout of a dragon for the second time in his life. It looked like it had climbed up the side of their building despite its huge black wings tucked in close to its back. Its claws dug into the stone ledge of their balcony until a spiderweb of cracks appeared.

The dragon roared a loud, terrible roar and all of Jongho’s bandmates yelled and fell to the floor in terror. Jongho stayed where he was with his mouth hanging open in shock He didn’t dare move a muscle, unsure if he was having another strange, realistic dream. Then the dragon glowed with a powerful black aura that must have been magic of some kind and suddenly the whole beast was gone.

“Ta-da!”

On the balcony stood a beautiful, young man who looked barely older than Jongho himself, and without missing a breath the young man jumped towards Jongho with a crooked grin on his face.

“Jonggie, I’m finally home!” The man exclaimed brightly with one of the deepest voices Jongho had ever heard. “Sorry, it took a while but look, Jongho, I’m here now!”

The young man nearly jumped into his arms, and Jongho reeled away, stumbling over his feet, because this was no regular young man. The dragon at their balcony had turned itself into a young man with deep red hair and dark eyes, but from those vibrant locks jutted two long, devil-like horns Ridged and slight curved, the horns looked as sharp as the man’s unnaturally canine teeth, but a normal, pink tongue darted out to lick over them. Everything else about him seemed normal as well. He had two legs, two arms, a delicate human face, even if he was unreasonably tall, towering over Jongho at around 6 feet. Even his clothes seemed normal, just a pair of black, ripped jeans that clung to muscled thighs, and a checkered, flannel jacket over some graphic t-shirt.

Just a normal, young-twenties hot dude hopping over to him like a kid at the amusement park, but with horns and teeth. And a tail. Just then Jongho noticed the thick, red spaded tail snaking back and forth behind the man, and now he was fully backed up against the wall along with the rest of his friends. Everyone was stunned into silence for a moment. Jongho was sure each of them was convinced they were experiencing the same freak dream. But when it didn’t end, and they were all still staring dumbly at each other and the young, dragon man, Wooyoung finally broke the silence with a shrill scream.

“What the fuck is that?!”

Hongjoong was already pulling out his phone, whether to call the police or their managers was unknown, but it didn’t matter when the young man easily stepped through the field of broken glass and snatched his phone away.

“Wait, wait, wait, I’m supposed to be here I swear. You’re gonna love me, just wait. Jongho, tell them!” The dragon man pointed straight at him, and Jongho felt six pairs of wide-eyes turn to him in disbelief. He felt like he had to defend himself, but he had no idea what was going on either.

“What! I don’t know who he is?”

The dragon man seemed to pout, but only for a second before he was bounding ever closer.

“Don’t say that! Do you really not recognize me? It’s Mingi! The dragon?!” The dragon man, Mingi apparently, was yelling now, clearly upset. Before he could get any closer, close enough to grab him, Seonghwa stepped between them and shoved the man back.

“That’s enough!” He placed Jongho completely behind him and jabbed a finger at the dragon man. “What the hell is going on and what do you want with our member? Explain yourself right now, or we’re calling the police.”

Mingi didn’t explain himself; he didn’t answer at all. His eyes were locked onto Seonghwa’s arm that was protectively wrapped around Jongho to keep him back and safe. A growl ripped from Mingi’s throat as his gaze sharped into a murderous glare, his whole body glowing once again with dark magic. Runes of a strange, unknowable language appeared in the air and everyone else shrunk back in fear. This wasn’t a fucking dream at all. A dragon was in their living room about to blast them all away, because Jongho couldn’t remember a stupid name. He may have been wearing a man’s skin, but in that moment, looking into those burning eyes, Jongho knew that Mingi was nothing but a beast. He was 9 again trembling in fear of a very real monster. He closed his eyes to hide away from his last few moments of life.

The blow never came. The runes disappeared, and Mingi stopped glowing with darkness and malice. He sucked in a deep breath for one long minute the relaxed.  
“Okay, but it's a long story. Do you have tea?”

Jongho stepped out from behind his friend, his protector, to incline towards their kitchen.

“Of course, we do. Just a minute.” Anything to keep the dragon calm and peaceful and not about to kill his members. He could hardly believe that his voice had remained so steady, much less that he was offering tea to a dragon who just broke into their apartment. Wooyoung was much less inclined to do so.

“What about our porch? The fucking door?!”

Mingi waved his hands in a circle and the black runes reappeared to swirl and twist in mid-air. In a blink of an eye, all the broken glass reshaped back into their door, and their porch was left without a scratch. As he turned into the kitchen, Jongho wondered why not a single one of their neighbors in their entire building was screaming about a dragon.

Once the tea kettle was whistling, they all sat down around the table to talk. Well, the dragon Mingi sat on one side of the able, while Jongho, Hongjoong, and Seonghwa sat on the other with the rest of the group crowded behind them. They were a unified front against the intruder or at least they hoped that they looked like one. Strength in numbers would be one of their sole defenses against whatever this dragon wanted from them. It was seven against one, the table stacked. If Mingi noticed, he didn’t say anything as he went to sip at his tea the moment it was placed on the table.

“You’re going to burn yourself if you don’t wait.” Jongho warned him. The dragon man laughed in his face.

“Hello, I’m a dragon. Thought that was pretty well established.” He said, grabbing his tail and waved it about, but as soon as the scalding liquid touched his tongue, he flinched with a yelp. No one commented on the blunder, but Jongho caught San chuckling silently behind his hand. He raised an eyebrow at the dragon as the man pouted at the burning tea. Mingi gave a sheepish smile and set the tea back down as he scrambled to cover himself. “I just keep forgetting the limitations of your fragile human bodies! You guys break from the smallest things… like stairs and paper… and–“

“You were going to explain why the hell you broke into our apartment.” Hongjoong’s patience was running thin. Mingi simply pointed at him, and Jongho shifted in his seat uncomfortably. He already didn’t like where this was going.

“I know him!” Mingi exclaimed, a sharp grin breaking out over his handsome face. His eyes were bright as he continued unbounded by the stiff silence that fell over the idol group. “He told to come back. C’mon, Jongho tell them!”

“What? No, I didn’t.” Jongho choked a little at the accusation. He didn’t remember doing anything besides singing.

“Yes, you did.” Mingi frowned. In a flash, he had reached across the table to grab Jongho’s hand, and his grip was strong. Jongho was more rattled that he couldn’t pull his arm back even if he tugged with all of his strength. The dragon man just steamrolled on either unaware or uncaring of his physical protest. “Aw, c’mon, don’t mess with me. After you sang that beautiful lullaby to me, you made me promise to become an idol with you. Don’t you remember that you were crying so hard you could barely get the words out?”

He laughed fondly over the memory with his gaze so much softer than when he had been ready to obliterate Jongho’s friends into pieces. “Sorry, I’m a little late. You weren’t too worried about me, were ya?” He tacked on a wink, and Jongho was beginning to feel lightheaded. Happiness was written all over the dragon’s face at the thought of Jongho thinking about him.

But the probing stares of his members cooled any warmness from the moment for Jongho. He took a deep breath and came clean about his past with the dragon. He told them about getting lost during the camping trip and the dreamlike state when he ad came across a dragon in the woods. Feeling embarrassed, he quickly explained how he had found Mingi while he was dying, so he sang him a song. But he really had no recollection of ever telling the dragon his dreams of becoming an idol. He remembered no such promise. Mingi still seemed upset that he had forgotten about it, but Wooyoung saved him by cutting through the argument with another call for reality.

“But how the fuck as you a dragon?” He gestured wildly between Mingi’s horns and tail. “Magical dragons aren’t supposed to be fucking real!”

Mingi hissed at his outburst, clearly unamused by the question of his existence and sincerity. For a moment, Jongho was worried he was going to have to stop another fight, but then Mingi jumped out of his chair.

“What time is it? Where is your TV? I almost forgot.”

“Um…”

“Please, this will help!”

“Almost 7pm and the living room… where you broke in.” Yunho supplied, suffering through the pair of sharp glares the parentals Seonghwa and Hongjoong cut his way. Mingi rushed away, flipping over the entire couch to find the remote. At least it hadn’t gone through the wall, but there were still cries of protest, as Mingi began to fumble with the found remote. Yunho decided to step in before he broke that too. Every channel had been hijacked with the same public service announcement from the South Korean government, and Jongho stayed rooted to his chair in denial that if he doesn’t see it maybe their words weren’t real either. Though the announcement seemed to be wrapping up anyway, none of the them could deny what little they heard from the official spokeswoman’s report.  
“… after careful, extensive research and debate, the extraterrestrial dragon Song Mingi has been released from federal detainment. In exchange for his cooperation, he has been granted South Korean citizenship and will live amongst the public. Press conferences with the Ministry of National Defense and President Moon Jae-in will be held next–“

The TV was turned off, and the grin was back on Mingi’s face like he had won something. Already Jongho was starting to dread the sight of it, because it would only make him harder to get rid of.

“You’re an alien, too?!” Wooyoung squawked, and the grin slipped right of his face. Mingi was back to scowling, the sharp lines of his nose, jaw, eyes, neck, hell everything, making him look sinister. A devil, a dragon, a whatever stood in their living room, and Jongho wasn’t going to forget that. Though a small, nagging voice tried to remind him that Mingi didn’t kill him before, so he probably wouldn’t do so now either. For the safety of his friends, he squashed that voice down like a soda can.

“I don’t like their wording, but I guess it’s the best way for them to explain it.” Mingi said. His eyes rolled up to the ceiling as if he was asking for strength before he went to explain. “I didn’t come from space more just from another world. Our realities are layered on top of each other and with magic–“  
Seonghwa dropped his head into his hands and let out a loud groan. “No string theory please.”

But it turned out that it was impossible to derail Mingi from a tangent once he got invested. Nearly an hour later, Ateez had retreated back to the table, slumped over their chairs and each other, some of them asleep while others were so zoned out, they were drooling over themselves. When the dragon finally came to the concluding point that he was incredibly skilled in the scientific magics to be able to pull this transcendence off, only San was still sat up straight and attentive. If his plan was to wear them down into submission, it was only partially working. Mingi squinted at San with a wary look.

“Did you… actually get any of that?”

San shook his head. “No, but it sounds fascinating.” And nope, they were not doing this anymore, Jongho shook himself out of his stupor to lay his foot down.

“And so what?”

Mingi blinked at him, confused, so Seonghwa picked up the defense.

“Alright, so you’re really a dragon and you’re from another world. Doesn’t mean you have to be here. Just go back–“

“No.” There was no emotion on his face as he refused. Mingi’s entire body sat rigid in his chair with his eyes hard and cold as he stared them down. But this had gone on long enough, and Jongho could tell Seonghwa was getting pissed.

“Why not?” The man spat back to the dragon, fed up with his attitude. “Do you not know how to go back or something?”

“I’m not going back.” Mingi said his non-answer slowly and annunciated each word deliberately in a way that left no room for discussion or further explanation.

“But that doesn’t answer why you are here though. What do you want?” Jongho said quietly. The rest of his team sat in solidarity with him, staring down the dragon across from them. To his credit, Mingi did not crumble under them, even if he had started to look smaller on the other side of their table sitting all alone. Jongho even felt a little bad as he once again saw that dragon curled up and bleeding alone in the deep mountain forests. But he squashed down that small part of his heart, because it was a voice that might get them eaten by a monster with lots of teeth.

“You promised me that we could be idols together.” Mingi lowered his eyes to the table. “That we can sing and dance and make people happy. That they’d love us, and we’d be family together forever.”

Jongho swallowed around the hard lump in his throat. “I was 9 when I said that, if I even did at all. I don’t remember. It’s just a ridiculous thing kids say when they don’t know any better. It’s even more ridiculous of you to seriously expect me to keep it.”

If Mingi was hurt by this, he didn’t show it. He only gritted his teeth and got angry again. “But you sang to me! Why would do all that if you didn’t mean any of it?”

“I was a child!”

“I have nowhere else to go!”

“Can’t you go back to the government, Mingi?” Hongjoong tried to reason with him. He clearly didn’t want to kick the dragon out to the streets, but he also wasn’t so eager to throw open their doors to a random, extraterrestrial, magical, non-human being they knew nothing about. Anyway, they were a complete team that had trained with each other for years to become the rookie Kpop idol group Ateez. Their performance was in-sync and top-notch, their chemistry was balanced and engaging… well.

Jongho glanced over his team but reasoned that every group has their pitfalls. And adding an entirely-new wildcard who certainly had no type of idol-training was not going to solve any of theirs. This dragon at their doorstep probably wasn’t even able to do any of the skills expected of an idol whether it was singing, rapping, dancing, or fanservice. He was definitely not qualified. At this point, they were close enough to be more family than friends. They were a complete team. No room for extras.

Mingi scrambled for anything to convince them otherwise. He clawed through his pockets to bring out a few pieces of crumpled paper that he slammed down on the table: birth certificate, civilian citizenship documents, and a passport with his unsmiling face staring up at them.

“But I got all of these things, so I could be with you. I don’t want to work for your government!” He grabbed Jongho’s hand again despite the protests from everyone else in the room. “Please, listen. These past 10 years I did whatever they asked, let them do whatever they wanted, so I could be an idol with you. Because we made a promise!”

This time Jongho managed to wrench his hand away. Perhaps because of how much he was sweating that made it slippery. He couldn’t get the sight of those teeth out of his mind.

“I’m sorry.” He said. “But we don’t need you. And we can’t afford for you to mess up our team either.” It hurt him to even say it, but it was true. Mingi turned away from him, head downcast and mouth stiff. But there were no curses or incantations. No razor claws or sharp teeth. He stood from the table, seeming to finally take the rejection.

But Hongjoong stood up as well wanting to say something and reach a compromise. Jongho caught sight of his leader’s trembling lower lip and knew he was about to cave, having been swayed by the sorry sight of the dragon and his sob story.

“Mingi, wait–“

“When I was dying in that forest, I had accepted it. I had made peace with the end of my life.” Mingi cut over Hongjoong and his extended hand like he wasn’t even there. He only cared about Jongho. “But I decided to fight to live, to go through all the pain and recovery then worked to be accepted by your world, because you promised that there was a place for me in it. You said that place was by your side so here I am. Yet now you say it’s gone.”

He slammed his fist down on the table and everyone flinched at his anger. His voice was only a low whisper so raw as it came from deep in his chest. “Take responsibility for that.”

Speechless, Jongho only shook his head. He didn’t know what to do or what he even could do. Hongjoong took over for him, and this time he spoke with a command that could not be ignored.

“You are barking up the wrong tree.”

Mingi’s gaze cut to their leader, and his snarl could cut through steel. Yet Hongjoong stood to his full height and refused to be silenced a second time. His trembling lip had steeled with his resolve.

“You never asked for our names. I am Hongjoong.” He gave a short bow. “And I am the leader of Ateez. If you want to join us, then you should be talking to me.”  
Jongho gaped up at his friend along with the rest of the group. Seonghwa was already tugging on Hongjoong’s sleeve, but they all froze again when Mingi sneered and stepped closer. He came around the table with his long strides stopping just a few inches in front of their leader who didn’t yield even a half-step back. If they thought Mingi was tall before, he became gigantic as he towered over Hongjoong. Hongjoong had to tilt his head back to meet his challenging stare while Mingi just looked down his straight nose.

“I never understood why they made you the leader. Honestly thought my intel was wrong. I mean, you’re the smallest and weakest, right?” He patted the top of Hongjoong’s head. Oh. Shit. Jongho shivered as his leader’s glare sharpened until it could fall a dragon. Yet Mingi continued. “Speak to your company then. Inform them that I’m joining as the group’s new rapper.”

“No.” As the leader, he didn’t deign to explain his reasoning or decision. His word was final, even Mingi could tell this. Still, he bared his teeth with their sharp points more resembling fangs for just a moment. The two were posturing. A duel had commenced and everyone else became mere bystanders to witness the showdown.

The black runes glowed in the air as Mingi brandished his magic and patches of his body flickered to resemble his true form of scales and corded muscles. The display of power was a reminder to the puny human just who he was denying.

“Then I will thrash you about this room until you break. Because you are small and weak, you cannot stop me.”

“Surely, you are not stupid enough to do that.” Now, Hongjoong was smirking up at the dragon who glowed with unchecked power. Jongho scrambled to find a phone, anyone’s, just in case of emergency.

“I. Am. Not. Stupid.” Mingi snarled, raising his hand that was tipped with claws. Hongjoong tutted.

“If you hurt me, what will Atiny think? I don’t believe they’d like you too much if you broke one of their favorite people.”

“They won’t know. You’ll tell them it was an accident.” Mingi snapped.

“But if you hurt me to the point where I can’t perform, can’t rap, can’t write songs, then our fans who like me might lose interest.” Hongjoong picked at his fingernails, seemingly bored of Mingi’s childish brutality. But Jongho could see the sweat beading on the back of his neck. His leader was a very good bluffer. Yeosang was slowly inching towards the front door, so he could bolt for help if needed.

Despite his remaining fear, Hongjoong jabbed at the snarling dragon. “You’d be hurting our numbers. Our sales and brand! Which means,” He glanced to Jongho. “ You’d be hurting his dream, too. The one you apparently care so much about. We are not an established group with legions of fans to fall back on. Without me, Ateez will sink.”

“They’ll just become fans of me! They’ll like me and stay.”

Hongjoong started to laugh. He couldn’t help it.

“Oh yeah, I can tell that you’re such a charmer.” He poked right at Mingi’s bared teeth, and waved his hand through all the threatening casts of magic even though they burned like ice on his bare skin. The dragon snapped.

With frightening strength, he lifted Hongjoong off the ground by a fist in his shirt and shook him hard. Hongjoong felt his neck pop and crack painfully, and the rest of his team certainly heard the sickening sounds. Yeosang sprinted out the door, but Jongho didn’t know what kind of help he’ll be able to find out there.

“Obey me!” Mingi shouted in Hongjoong’s face.

“No.”

He stated his refusal calmly, mustering up all his strength to stare the dragon down and not cower in fear. There was stillness, then Mingi dropped him to the ground like a child frustrated with their toy. The dragon huffed and seethed until finally he backed away. Like a caged animal, he paced around the room. Occasionally, he would stalk up to Hongjoong with some new argument on his tongue. But before he could say anything, he’d dismiss his own thought in his head and stalk away again. The idol group watched him warily, their messenger still not back with reinforcements.

Hongjoong didn’t care about any of that. He stood to his full height and kept his shoulders square as he held his ground no matter how Mingi snapped at him or pushed. Finally, the dragon threw his hands in the air.

“You are not fit to command me!”

Hongjoong shook his head, disappointed. “If you can’t accept my leadership, then you can not join our team. I won’t allow it.” He grabbed the dragon by his wrist and began to tug him to the door. “Congratulations on your new citizenship, but I’m sure it came with the strict condition to never harm others, and you did just attempt to assault me.”

At the mention of his crime, Mingi froze, his eyes growing wide.

“If you continue to bother us, I’ll go straight to the military to have you detained again.” He shoved Mingi out of their apartment. “Unless, of course, you change your mind. We may have a place for you then.” He tacked on the offer, giving Mingi a small, comforting pat on the arm. Then he slammed the door in the dragon’s face.

Hongjoong leaned back against the door with a tired sigh as he worried over whether Mingi might try to force open the door again. But there was nothing. The rest of them stared at their leader shocked and still. They may have been afraid to more or speak too suddenly and break whatever spell Hongjoong had pulled out of his ass to get them out of that terrible mess.

Then Seonghwa gasped. “Yeosang!”

Hongjoong cursed, but when he whipped open the door, their little messenger was waiting right there to barge back inside with the building’s security guard right behind him. Mingi was nowhere in sight.

//

Jongho marveled at their sliding porch door while he tried to remember more from his first encounter with Mingi all those years ago. The glass door had been utterly destroyed when Mingi had burst in, but his quick spell had fixed it back together without a crack left behind. Hell, it was even cleaner than it had been before, and there wasn’t a paint chip missing or out of place. Their porch was whole and flawless. He wished he could say the same of his memory.

He remembered with startling clarity when he had sung a lullaby to the dying dragon. The tress had eaten up his little voice, creating a wall of silence that surrounded them. Black blood had slid down red scales slowly but unceasingly. Mingi had been warm, had radiated a comforting heat that attracted little Jongho to curl up by his side. His eyes had held so much resignation. And defeat. Nothing like the swaggering, brash asshole who had just paraded through their home with so much life and confidence. No, back then not even the setting sun had been unable to light up the endless darkness in his eyes. But from that point onward, nothing. Jongho couldn’t even remember finishing the song. The rest of that day was a hazy, patchy mirage that he couldn’t make out. But trying to piece it together was more fun than listening to his members argue with each other.

“’A place for you?’ What the fuck were you thinking Hongjoong?” Seonghwa was trying not to yell, but he was failing in that respect. Whether it was against a dragon or an angry friend, Hongjoong was not one to concede an inch. But he was at least nicer about it as he tried to calmly explain himself. He was also failing in that respect.

“It’s only if he can learn to submit to a team. That’s the most important thing to establish.”

“He’s not an idol! He’s a dragon who almost ripped apart our apartment and tried to kill us.”

At this, Hongjoong’s eyes lit up. “You’re right, he’s not an idol, and we can use that!” Mingi must have put a curse on him or scrambled his brain, that was the only explanation for this craziness. But their leader wouldn’t let them doubt him. “He’s different. He’d make us different. And if he was going to kill us, he would have done it already.”

“You don’t know that though!”

“A decade, Seonghwa! A dragon who had just magic travelled to a new, strange world was willing to suffer through controlling bureaucrats and invasive scientists for 10 whole years, because he popped a boner to Jongho’s voice. He’s in love with the kid, so he’s not going to kill him. And because Jongho loves us, he’s not going to kill us either.” Hongjoong slunk an arm around Jongho’s shoulders, giving him a little teasing squeeze as Jongho rolled his eyes. He could feel his neck grow warm. This was all really too much.

He pushed Hongjoong away. “He’s not in love with me… maybe just a little fixated…”

“A little?!” Wooyoung had to cackle from his little corner on the couch where he had San wrapped around him like a comfort blanket. Out of all of them, Wooyoung had been the angriest at their leader’s foolish, last-minute offer. He had ranted and raved until he was red in the face about every tiny way Mingi could ruin them if he joined their idol group. The least of which would be by embarrassing the group out of existence once they put him up on a stage, and the dragon bombed because it takes years of training to be a Kpop idol. The worst of which would definitely be dying in any of the numerous, horrific ways. San had been deployed to calm him down, but no man can work miracles. “Please tell me how we’re going to perform as a group if that monster wants to eat us every time we so much as breath next to him?”

“Not to mention having 8 people is going to fuck with our choreo.” Yeosang muttered from where he sat glaring on the couch.

“Thank you!” Wooyoung reached over to clap his best friend on the shoulder, but Yeosang leaned away, too irritated for physical touch. Hongjoong rolled his eyes at the pair.

“Okay that’s a little trivial. But let me ask you guys this; are we popular? Tell me, is Ateez doing well?”

Nobody answered him, every tongue held tightly between their teeth. Ateez was doing just fine. After their comeback, their popularity had exploded overseas. Their international fanbase had grown exponentially after every album since, and after their 2 comeback, the group had managed to snag a win with the newfound support of their precious Atiny. But no awards. Their own country gave them no recognition, and each member laid awake at night contemplating how they can do better. They knew that these things take time. They had faith in their hard work of their Atiny, yet still the question weighed down their shoulders every week, every song, every comeback; what was it going to take to push them to the top, to the point where their success was undeniable? They were a young group, but they were hungry.

Hongjoong looked into each of their starved gazes and gave his final case. “We are doing everything we can right now. I know each of you are working so hard, but this is a crucial period for us. This guy, dragon, thing? He can take us to the next level.”

“Or he can break us. Completely. Irreversibly.” Seonghwa said, bitterly. He refused to let himself hope like that, despite how bright Hongjoong had sparkled with his declarations. Nothing was ever that easy. “It won’t be the guarantee to success, you’re hoping for, Joong.”

“But let’s see what it can be!”

“You’re both getting ahead of yourselves.” Yunho stepped between them. It was nearing close to one in the morning, and everyone was tired. He, at least, was sick of the arguing. “We need to see what he can do. Even before that, he probably won’t get over himself with this leadership complex he has.”  
Yunho looked directly at Hongjoong, or rather at his neck where the light bruises had started to form from Mingi shaking him. The smattering of yellow and purple was nothing their stylists couldn’t cover up, yet still Yunho simmered in anger. Hongjoong relented, and the group went to bed for the night.

Jongho stared into the bare corners of his single room and tried his best not to remember anything more in his dreams. He was too afraid of what he might find.

//

For days, they only heard about Mingi through the news. Every corner of the internet had exploded at the announcement of a dragon living in secret on Earth, and people were losing their minds. Quickly, people ripped themselves into factions of pro-dragon, anti-dragon, no-dragon, dragon-is-a-distraction-from-climate-change, and hundreds of others. The dragon deniers were vehement and ass-deep in concocted conspiracies despite the limited number of pictures, videos, and reports the South Korean government drip fed the public.

All of them, only showed Mingi in his dragon form to keep his human form anonymous if he chose to live out of the public eye no matter how much the public protested. Jongho wondered how he can remain that way though with his horns and tail. Despite those dead giveaways, there was not a single peep from Mingi himself or from anyone exposing him. Not a single person in the world had seen him. It was like he had disappeared altogether once more, a reoccurring fragment of Jongho’s imagination except this time the entire world was suffering under the same delusion. The crisis situation remained very real.

The group remained silent on the matter. They had their managers swear to secrecy about their encounter with the dragon even to keep the incident from their higher-ups until things settles down. And so, they waited. They continued on with their idol schedule and waited. A guillotine swung precariously over them, and they waited for the rope to snap. But it never did.

They were piling into the van absurdly early in the morning, ready to bus off to whatever schedule they had for the day, when one of them finally managed to spot Mingi again. Wooyoung tightened his grip on Jongho’s arm as he stares off to the other side of the street.

“Hey… isn’t that him?”

Jongho whipped around immediately, and sure enough there Mingi was. And he was just sitting with his ass planted on the edge of the curb, arms and legs crossed to help him fold up as small as possible. And he was just staring at them, his sharp eyes glaring out from over his arms as his foot bounced in place. He was in his human form, but completely human now. No horns, no tail, but Jongho smiled at Mingi’s still vibrant, eye-catching red hair. If the dragon could travel the multiverse, it’s reasonable to assume that he can hide his true form quite well. He was still a sight to behold, a giant mountain of a man pouting like a lost puppy on the side of the road, yet no one but the band seemed to notice or care. They all glanced to each other than back to the dragon man in a nervous tennis match, but he made no move to leave his little seat.

“What is he doing?” Seonghwa whispered, a little scared of how far Mingi could possibly hear. They all turned to Jongho. He threw his hands in exasperation.

“How the hell should I know?”

“Well…” Hongjoong assessed the situation across the street. “Is he bothering anyone?” They all shook their heads.

“Then let’s go.”

The band piled into the cars and took off for their day at work. Jongho tried not to be too obvious as he glanced back a few times keep the dragon in his sight and to see if he would follow them. But he didn’t. Despite for how long they were away, when they returned Mingi was still across the street and he watched them get out and enter their building with the same passiveness as in the morning. He didn’t try to talk to them or wave them over; he didn’t move a muscle, the tracking of his eyes the only indication that he was aware of their arrival at all. They went inside and ate dinner, then a few hours later, Hongjoong came home from the studio and confirmed that Mingi was still across the street.

“He’s still just sitting there.”

“Do you think that we should let someone know?”

“Eh, he’s not doing anything.”

“Yet.”

The next morning was the same. Mingi watched them pack up and take off.

“Again?”

“Guess he really doesn’t have anywhere to go.”

And the next evening.

“Doesn’t he need to eat?”

And the following morning and so on.

For several days, this became their new routine, with the boys unsure of how to handle the grumpy dragon at their doorstep. Jongho was positive that Mingi was intimidating all the police officers who surely have asked him to move during the day. The thought made him laugh.

“Oh? He’s gone.” Hongjoong noticed first, and they all rushed to the windows to confirm. Mingi wasn’t there, the vacant spot now looking strange. “Where could he have gone?” Hongjoong shrugged and loaded his team into the cars.

Their schedule was relatively light today, just a single morning recording for a YouTube variety show then vocal lessons and studio tests for the rest of the day. As the leader, Hongjoong had a few extra meetings with management later on, but something about today felt off. Maybe it was just the sudden absence of Mingi that set everyone on edge and preoccupied over where he was going to turn up again, but something was wonky.

Their interviewer had been a little too nervous during their recording, and Hongjoong had noticed how often she kept glancing about and the goosebumps that frequently broke across her skin. A stylist had accidentally burned the tips of Seonghwa’s hair. Then the car door had trouble closing on their way back to the studio. Then their manager had tripped over his own feet and nearly fell to the floor with a whole tray of drinks. Then Wooyoung started picking fights with San, claiming that someone kept shoulder checking him before he went home due to the beginnings of a headache. Then Yunho got pissed, because his phone charger had somehow gotten ripped out of the wall. Everyone was off their game, perhaps exhausted from the weeks of promotions and already preparing for their next few comebacks or perhaps everyone could sense to strange atmosphere that seemed to follow them all day.

When the rest of the members finally packed up to go home after lunch, Hongjoong sighed with content to have a few hours in the studio along before his evening meetings. He was tired, he always was, but there was no place he’d rather be then at his keyboard in the booth. Clicking around on his computer, he heard the leather couch behind him groan faintly before he slipped on his big headphones. Hongjoong smiled as he got to work.

//

Mingi didn’t know what he’d expected when he had decided to follow around Hongjoong for the day. He had wanted to figure out why everyone insisted and trusted upon his leadership, but all the tiny man did was sit in front of his computer. A couple of centuries ago, Mingi had managed to learn the castings to shroud his presence and turn himself invisible and silent to all those around him, and it was one of his most valuable spells to date. But now, he wasn’t sure if this wasn’t all just a waste of his time.

While he could turn invisible, he couldn’t completely erase his physical presence. With so many people everywhere, he had spent most of the day just trying not to bump into anyone, and more than once he was sure he had been found out. He didn't mean to cause so many problems, but sometimes there was barely enough room to get away before someone could discover him.

In return, so far all he learned about the small leader was that he talked a lot and laughed loudly. He was strict with his members, but he was also playful towards them. He certainly had his hands full trying to contain them all and keeping them on track. Hongjoong spoke quickly and much more eloquently than Mingi and had a lot of white teeth that made up a pretty smile.

He had charmed the restless interviewer this morning, chastised Yeosang and Wooyoung for distracting each other, and babied Jongho through his vocal coaching. Jongho definitely liked Hongjoong, and that made Mingi kick at the wall in the corner until Yunho had cocked his head towards his little stake out point.

It was also frustrating that the humans of this earth seemed to have a heightened sensitivity to the presence of those around them even if they can’t see or hear the being in question in the slightest. Or they could somehow sense the energy of his magic in the room even though they have absolutely no natural exposure to it in their own world. Maybe it was the wrongness of the magic, the otherworldliness of it that tipped them off. But whatever the case was, it scared the shit out of him every time someone would suddenly glance towards him no matter how still and out of the way he was. Maybe he was being too still…

He didn’t need this kind of stress in his life especially when it took a lot of concentration to be able to maintain such an intense cloaking spell for so long. He was exhausted, and it had barely been worth it. Folded up on the couch behind Hongjoong, he could have fallen asleep, but the man was blasting his music so loud through his headphones Mingi didn’t even need the heightened hearing of a dragon to become irritated by it. He scowled at the back of his head.

Hongjoong was playing Jongho’s afternoon recording over and over as he tweaked things here and there to the different tracks. The boy’s honey vocals had only sweetened over time, had grown stronger, sturdier, and even more moving. Mingi couldn’t help but relax under their ministrations, for Jongho had always sounded so pretty and for years he had used just the memory of his singing to help him sleep. But then Hongjoong’s clicking was messing with something that was already perfect, and the impudence made him boil all his calmness away.

Then he listened a little closer. He could admit that the subtle changes Hongjoong made did overall make Jongho’s voice come through clearer and hit a little harder at the right beats. It wasn’t drastic, but it was the high-quality sound that came from the studio tracks of their albums that Mingi would listen to over and over when they finally came out and debuted. He didn’t know that Hongjoong had any hand in the composition and refinement of their songs. He had never paid attention to the song credits, too busy rewinding to listen to Jongho’s beautiful vocals one more time.

When Hongjoong went to work layering Jongho’s voice over different instrumentals, the real magic began. There was a slowed down, quiet harmonization of a strings quartet that became more powerful as it came to a crescendo, and Jongho’s belting voice burst out on top of it, riding all of the momentum and emotion that broke down upon Mingi’s ears once more. With it, his heart swelled and started to beat much too fast for him to sit still. Entranced, he slipped off the couch and crawled to sit closer behind Hongjoong’s chair. He wanted to see how the man was making such beautiful music.

For over an hour, Mingi stayed perched behind Hongjoong, simply watching him work on a single track. After finding a rhythm and beat that he liked for the bridge, he had also started to practice and revise his rap verses for the song, frantically scribbling in his notebook to get a better feel for the words. At first, he would only mutter them to himself, but as he got more into the flow, the tiny leader went hard, spitting out each line like he was up on stage in front of thousands of Atiny. He was good. Really good.

Watching him practice reminded Mingi of the many nights he would stay up to practice his own rapping in preparation for the day when he would be free to join Jongho as an idol. It had been pretty clear from the beginning that he didn’t have skills to become a good singer, so he taught himself rap from the internet and hip hop songs coming out across the world. The government wouldn’t let him study too many of the English songs, too scared that he would become enamored with the country and leave them to become a foreign power’s little secret weapon instead. As if he would ever leave behind his little angel Jongho.

He didn’t know that Hongjoong took the time to write his own lyrics either. The lyrics to Ateez’s songs had always been a favorite of his. Hongjoong suddenly checked his phone and then shot out of his chair with the chair barreling into Mingi in his haste.

“Hm. Weird.” Hongjoong didn’t have time to worry about why or how his chair had caught on the rug and suddenly stopped; he was going to be late to his meeting if he didn’t sprint up the stairs right now. Rubbing at his bruising arm, Mingi followed him, determined to see this day through to the end. The little fucker was faster than he looked, and Mingi only just barely managed to slip through the meeting room door without his tail getting caught. He should have probably kept to his fully human form, but it was cramped and made his skin itch when he stayed like that for too long. Even just having his horns and tail free made him infinitely more comfortable, though he wished there was enough space to have his wings out too.

Discretely he moved into the far corner of the room to observe the three men who sat at the big meeting table in the center. He recognized one of them as one of the group’s managers who drove them around for all of their schedules. The other two he had never seen before, and they were dressed in neat, crisp suits that clearly denoted them as higher-up in the entertainment company’s management. Though they both smiled at Hongjoong as he came in, they also wore authority like the shiny, expensive watches on their wrists. They hadn’t even blinked at him when he slipped inside, but Mingi wanted to look away and shrink back from the prying stares they leveled at the tiny leader before them.

Mingi had dealt with many people like them in his time here on Earth, but he had never liked it. He hated the way they carried themselves like they knew everything Mingi could never know, and he hated the executive power they always held over him to force him to do whatever they wanted. He hated anyone having authority over him; the thought of submitting to these humans, made his stomach clench like he was about to vomit. He focused on Hongjoong instead. For some reason, his confidence and self-assurance didn’t make him feel trapped. Instead, it was slightly comforting.

“We need a new producer’s chair in the studio. The wheels are starting to get stuck and it hurts to sit on for long.” Hongjoong complained as he sat down to join them after his initial bow of greeting. The three men chuckled and nodded along.

“I think maybe sitting there alone in that studio for too long might not be the best idea in the first place.” One of the business men, the one with glasses and straight teeth, replied light-heartedly. It was clear to Mingi that they were close enough to gently tease each other, the conversation light and free of the tension he had always felt when he had to report to someone. The business man continued. “I’m sorry but bear with it a little longer. We don’t have much funds freed up to get to all the repairs.”

Hongjoong hummed in agreement. “Yeah, let’s save it for the next music video.” This got the two business men to glance with the manager in a silent conversation. The other business man took up the lead.

“Listen, are you sure your team is ready for an October comeback? Seonghwa just recovered from his sickness, and it seems every few weeks someone is having medical issues. You guys are tired, and we appreciate your all of your hard work, but… We haven’t announced it yet, so it can still be postponed until the comeback scheduled for January.”

Hongjoong forehead wrinkled into a frown that matched his mouth. He fiddled with his notebook a little as he thought, clicking absently at this pen.  
“Thank you for the offer, but I’ve already discussed this with the guys. We’re really excited to have a comeback for Ateez’s first anniversary, and Atiny would love it. It’d also helped keep us in people’s minds for award season. We really need to build up on our current momentum if we’re going to keep up with the competition.”

The other three at the table sighed. This was not the first time they had this conversation, and they had clearly hoped it would be their last. Hongjoong stayed strong despite their unenthusiastic response. His eyes stayed bright, his voice pleasant as he argued for the wants and dreams of his team. None of this seemed to faze him.

Even without being a part of the conversation or on either side of the conflict, Mingi bit at his nails nervously just by being in the room. He was tense, skin crawling with phantom bugs. He didn’t like the expectation in their voices or their disappointment for that matter. They would notice the door opening if he tried to leave. He was stuck. And if he was Hongjoong, if he was the leader, he’d have to come back. Again and again, probably at least once a week, if not more. He’d have to answer to these people, and the thought made him tremble in his corner of this too small room.

“Besides,” Hongjoong concluded. “If we waited for Wonderland until January, then Answer comeback is still after that. It’s nearly been a year of the Treasure series, and we know Atiny are kind of tired of it from Twitter. It’d be a mistake to try to stretch this concept out over for an entire year and a half.”  
Mingi didn’t even know what Twitter was, but the business men started to look wary of forcing their way and setting the group back. They conferred between the two of them for a moment, before reviewing some charts with Hongjoong. Then they finally conceded.

“Alright, we’ll review the comeback over and let you know of what CEO-nim decides.” Hongjoong smiled like a winning cat, and the meeting continued to discuss upcoming events for Ateez’s schedule and the preparations required. After about another hour, Mingi was nearly dead on his feet of boredom, but the men started to pack up and say their goodbyes. Hongjoong and the manager shared a victorious high-five, before the older man scolded him to go home to be with his team instead of crawling back to the studio. Hongjoong made no promises and soon enough he was the last one to straighten out the meeting room.

The small leader giggled to himself over his success and crumbled up a piece of unimportant scratch paper to throw into the air as impromptu confetti. Mingi held in his little yelp as the ball first hit the wall beside him before it bounced down onto his head then hit the floor. Thankfully, Hongjoong was turned around so he didn’t see it. But when the man came over to pick it up, Mingi pressed himself as far in the corner as possible to stay out of his way and remain undetected. Yet when Hongjoong stood back up, paper ball in hand, he looked directly into Mingi’s eyes as if he wasn’t invisible at all. Heart pounding, Mingi tried to remain calm, because it was impossible. There was no way the man could see him, and sure enough Hongjoong turned on his heel and went about cleaning up without saying a word. It was just a coincidence. Another incident of these humans’ freak supranatural senses. He was safe.

When Hongjoong finally left the room, Mingi nearly collapsed to the floor in relief. He didn’t know what the tiny man would do if he ever found out that Mingi was spying on him, but he was kind of scared to find out. Only a little. He was still just a human.

Exiting the cramped meeting room, Mingi paused as he glanced back to the stairwell that would take him back to Hongjoong’s studio where the smaller man had undoubtedly scurried off to. His back and feet ached from standing all squished up for so long, and the thought of fresh air and the open sky called to him. But… he needed to hear Hongjoong’s new rap just one more time.

//

Jongho leaned against the railing of their balcony as his group members scrambled to finish putting together dinner inside. Their apartment looked out over the shared patio of the building that really was more of a square of pavement with two and a half tables (one was broken) and some potted plants for “scenery”. They didn’t get to decorate it, and the sad little plot never really bothered him before. He was grateful for the privacy and quiet, but now he wished that their apartment faced the street. So, he could check whether a certain nuisance had returned to his post or not.

He already used the excuse of going to the 7/11 for snacks to check on him earlier. No such luck, Mingi still hadn’t returned to watching them from across the street. He could say that he was headed to the gym in their building and peek out a window, but dinner was just about to start. His members knew that he never worked out late at night, so then they would become suspicious, and then they would find out he was worried over their budding stalker, and then they would tease him mercilessly before calling him stupid and naïve. It would be too embarrassing, so he sulked on the balcony instead.

He couldn’t help himself. No one had ever believed him that he had encountered a dragon in the woods, because of course they wouldn’t. It was a figment of childish imagination, and while the look of ancient sadness and regret in the dragon’s eyes had haunted him since, he had let them convince him that it was only ever been a dream. As he got older, he had tried to forget all the nights he had spent crying over someone who wasn’t even real. But it was real. All of it was, and the dragon who should have been dead had come back for him, and even more than that he wanted to perform as an idol with him.

He didn’t know what to feel, for it was all overwhelming. He may have actually made that promise to become idols to the dragon. He wouldn’t put it past him, all little Jongho could ever think about was becoming a singer that the world adored. Maybe that dream they forged together alone deep in the mountains could come true. But last night, he had fallen asleep to the dim glow of his phone with his thumb still scrolling through all the discussion boards and threads and dissertations condemning the presence of a dragon on earth. Everyone was scared of the thing they didn’t know or understand. Jongho was scared. And Hongjoong’s plan was crazy. It was a terrible, terrible, stupid, crazy idea. Terrible.

The quiet glide of the porch door alerted him of Hongjoong’s arrival home. His leader patted him gently on the back before leaning on the railing with him. For a moment, all they did was admire the fiery summer sunset together as it fought its losing battle with the beginnings of a dark night. It was rare for Hongjoong to be home so early, for him to be able to join them for dinner. Jongho wondered what could have possibly enticed him out of the studio.

“No matter what happens, if you don’t want him to be here, I won’t let him join us.” Hongjoong cut right to the chase, and Jongho’s heart felt fuzzy in his chest. His team was behind him 100%, always there to support their maknae however he needed them. He struggled to put his gratitude for them into words, he always did, but Hongjoong merely assured him with another soft pat. It was crazy, but they were all crazy to start this journey in the first place anyway.

“Well…” Jongho trailed off as he started to pick at his shirt sleeve. He could see Hongjoong’s small crinkly smile out of the corner of his eye. “I mean, I think it’d be kind of… cool. He, he doesn’t really bother me.”

“You sure?” Hongjoong was teasing him, trying to get him to say it outright, and Jongho was definitely not blushing. But he had to sigh, his gaze turning sad as he stared up at the dying red streaks of the sun.

“He was alone when I found him Hongjoong, and he’s still alone now. Nothing’s changed. Maybe I don’t know or understand him, but… I don’t want him to be like this. He needs help and I don’t know if I could forgive myself if I didn’t try.”

“I asked what you want to do, not what you ought to do.”

Jongho couldn’t help but flinch from his leader’s bluntness, but Hongjoong had always been that way. Always precise and persistent. He would never judge Jongho’s decision; he was fully ready to support him either way. But it needed to be the truth. Jongho took a deep breath and squared himself to face what his heart truly desired.

“I want to help him hyung. Please let me give him a chance.”

“Of course.” 

“Ah, okay.” Hongjoong pulled him back inside, where Seonghwa was scolding Yeosang for eating like a beast, and the rest of the 99s were hitting the woah back and forth over the dinner table like some obsessive cult greeting. “Now let’s all eat together then.”

[](https://ibb.co/VVdXF96)


	2. Stuck Outside

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I LIVE!!!! New plan, chapters are going to be around 10k just to ensure that I actually put out the next one T^T this chapter just got so long and I was OVER IT. So I cut it off at the best stopping point and hopefully the pacing isn't jacked up. I promise things won't be so slow the whole time, it's just hard to get through the beginning because there's so much to account for!! And omg, its so hard to work in 8 characters all with their own actions, decisions, and shit they need to work through. I promise everyone will get their time, BEAR WITH ME!

The next morning, Mingi stood at their doorstep.

“Ack!” Wooyoung jumped back in surprise. He struggled to tear off one of his shoes, probably to use as a weapon to beat Mingi off if he had to. “Hongjoong!”

“Stop yelling. I’m right here.” Their leader stepped forward and seized Mingi up, while the dragon played with the hem of his fraying jacket. Jongho’s breath caught in his throat. He was glad to see that Mingi was okay for the most part, even if seeing the dragon so close once again made his stomach twist.

“Well?” Hongjoong prompted, when Mingi hesitated for too long. For all the dragon’s nerves, he looked Hongjoong right in the eye as he spoke up.

“You’re still small and weak. If you were back on my world, you’d be the first pup to die of the litter.” Hongjoong’s smile became strained. He started to reach for Wooyoung’s shoe, when Mingi continued. “But here… I’m the wrong one. Your contributions to this group are of a leadership caliber, and I respect your judgement.” Finally, he bowed, stooping low at the waist.

“Please let me join Ateez and make beautiful music with you all.”

Mingi kept himself lowered as he waited for Hongjoong, and he wouldn’t let himself give into a single tremor. Even if their answer could lock his entire world from him, he couldn’t show weakness. The front of strength made him feel so small, but it was all he knew to do.

“Okay, but you need to prove that you can do this shit first.”

Mingi shot up so fast he became slightly dizzy. “Wait, really? Wait, what!” Prove himself? He was standing right there on at their door bearing his beating heart in his palm and he still couldn’t join their little kpop band?! The demon of nightmares inside him that had fought and lived through countless wars was thrashing and screaming at the audacity. But he kept his anger in check this time. Even if he wanted to deck the smirk off of Hongjoong’s face. Maybe he didn’t have his rage on total lockdown, because the leader laughed at his bewildered scowl.

“C’mon, we’ll take you to the practice studio.” The members were quiet as he followed behind them through the halls. Not quiet enough that he couldn’t hear their rushed whispering to one another and it seemed that this was not an agreed upon decision. But the dragon didn’t say anything, He was too preoccupied with trying to anticipate what task they would ask him to prove himself with. Whatever it was he could handle it, but he liked being prepared. Especially if Jongho would be watching.

Their practice room was smaller than Mingi expected. He often daydreamed about Jongho practicing from dusk to dawn with his group in one of the large, modern dance studios he’d see briefly in some choreography videos where the lights were always a brilliant white and the floors spotless. That wasn’t to say that KQ’s dance studio was bad, but as Mingi stepped inside he noticed three things: the room was hilariously cramped with the speakers propped up on stools in the corners, there were spots on the floor to ceiling mirrors that covered one of the four walls, and the trashcan was overflowing with crumpled paper, leftover snack bags, and other crushed cans.

Mingi didn’t really mind any of that, but the reality of KQ’s facilities still fascinated him even if he kept up an air of cool disinterest. To think that Jongho had spent so much time here learning and perfecting Ateez’s iconic dances made him giddy enough to have a bounce in his step. But all eyes were on him as he spun around, taking it in, and he didn’t want to give them anything that they could use against him later if he needed to act up again.

“Have you never seen our dance practice videos before?” Jongho braved the question. The dragon was too interested in snooping around the room and poking at the KQ logo to have seen any of it before. But Jongho was confused if he hadn’t, because Mingi had made himself out to be such a superfan before that Jongho had just assumed that he lived and breathed every second of content the group had ever put out. Mingi froze in his playful exploring and straightened up.

“My access to your ‘worldwide web’ tool had always been strictly regulated.” The dragon snickered like this detail was just another part of a small-time petty game. “I think your government officials were terrified that I would learn and connect with other countries and leave to be someone else’s secret, magical weapon. If I wanted to see something from the internet, I’d have to submit aa request for it and they’d downloaded it onto a hard drive for me to use. I didn’t know that you had videos of your dance practices, so I never asked for them.”

Mingi went back to looking around, making peace signs in the mirror at himself like a kid in a funhouse while the rest of the boys just gaped at him. Hongjoong said what they all were thinking while the rest of them shuffled their feet.

“It sounds like you were their prisoners more than their ‘guest.’”

Mingi laughed again, but now it had no humor behind it. Was that what they were telling people?

“Well, I don’t know if I could really be called a prisoner either when I could have blown the place up with a snap of my fingers. Foolish of you to suggest that I would ever let some sniveling humans put chains around my neck.” A few of them, Hongjoong included, bristled at the jab, but he shushed any arguing before it could begin. He was not going to let this all slip back to square 1 when it had taken so damn long to even get this far.

Mingi continued speaking without a care of the discontent he had caused. “I wasn’t their prisoner, but I had to build up their good faith in me. So I played by their rules and gave them what they wanted.”

“Where was some of that courtesy when you broke down our door?” Wooyoung interrupted, earning himself a stern glare from Hongjoong.

“That’s what Mingi’s doing right now, see? Following my rules?” The leader cut in, glare traveling around the room. Mingi nodded along even if he had a pained grimace on his face, as if even agreeing with Hongjoong caused him physical pain. Hongjoong took it in stride graciously mainly by ignoring the dramatics entirely. He collected Mingi by grabbing his arm and brought him back over to the group while he also fished his phone out of his pocket.

A few clicks through YouTube and then all of the idols recognized their HALA HALA dance practice video come up on the screen. Mingi watched in awe as the seven dancers moved and cut clean through the same space they occupied right now. He’d seen their music show performances of the song thousands of times, replaying it over and over in the dark of his room when their comeback dropped at the beginning of the year, but it was a whole new experience to watch the choreography through a single camera with no cuts, zooms, or stage effects getting in the way.

The control each of them demonstrated over their bodies mesmerized him, and he barely blinked as he followed their precise execution of even the smallest movements. He didn’t even notice when he had grabbed Hongjoong’s phone out of his hand to bring it closer for him to watch. Nor did he seem aware of his own little giggle when the Jongho in the video stomped to front center of the group to begin the pre-chorus. All of the boys around him raised their eyebrows as Mingi downright abashedly cooed in front of them all, and Jongho stubbornly ignored the flip of his stomach at such a fort-right display of affection. Even Yunho’s ears tinted red from Mingi’s captivated trance as it seemed like a compliment towards them and their skills as performers.

It was easy to forget that he was a fan of theirs or rather a fan of Jongho; Mingi was off in his own little world and It felt like they were intruding by watching him. Hongjoong let the dragon enjoy himself and mouth along to the song until it got to the second chorus when he reached over to pause the video and take his phone back.

“Now Mingi,” He started, talking over the dragon’s pouting complaints. “If you want to be an idol with us, you need to be able to dance like that. Do you think you can do that?”

Despite his awe and reverence towards their dancing, Mingi answered confidenty without hesitation. “Yes! Of course, I can definitely do that.”

Hongjoong couldn’t tell if the dragon was just bluffing or not, but regardless he was amused by Mingi’s rushed assurances. He just hoped that the man could actually do it. The tiny leader grinned at him with something sharp in his eyes.

“Great. Learn this dance to the point of being performance ready by the end of the week, and then if I like it enough, you can join Ateez.”

Mingi blinked at the man, his confidence deflating out of him like a popped balloon. “A-a week?”

Hongjoong confirmed with a nod. “In seven days, you’ll prove to me what you can do and convince whether or not I can put you to work. That’s about 150 hours where all you have to do is learn a dance.” Hongjoong motioned for Yunho to give him his phone where he started to pull up the video for Mingi again. “If you can’t accomplish that, then you’re not cut out for our work schedule or our standards. Seems pretty fair to me.”

Mingi felt numb as Hongjoong placed Yunho’s phone in his hand and patted his shoulder. That didn’t sound fair at all, but what did he have to argue with? He’d already learned what it was like to fight with Hongjoong and knew that would get him nowhere or more likely just banished to the curb again. But still he worried the inside of his cheek as he watched the krump-inspire dance play out on the screen again. HALA HALA was by far Ateez’s hardest choreography, it would be hard enough just to get a handle on it let only execute it perfectly. He didn’t know what he was going to do, but if this was his test then he couldn’t mess it up.

Hongjoong attempted to reassure him, but it didn’t feel 100% sincere. “Don’t worry. You’ll have access to this dance studio whenever you want. I’ll alert the security.” Then he turned to his team to announce that they were starting their daily schedule and to head out to the garage. That was it; no tips, no advice, no amenities. Ateez was headed out.

Mingi caught onto Hongjoong’s arm to request only one thing.

“Can I at least have my horns and tail out when I’m in here?” He asked quietly. Hongjoong hesitated; when he imagined Mingi joining the group and performing up on stage with them he had envisioned Mingi to be in the half-human form he had been in when they met him that first night. He would be their one of a kind dragon idol and any good dragon idol would need their horns and tail and maybe some scales, but explaining that to the company and the buildings staff was going to be complicated. One slip up, one scared custodian or spooked corporate buff could terminate their whole group before they even gave it a try on stage. The leader honestly hadn’t thought that far ahead yet. But for now, it was more important for him to access how Mingi can perform as such a being. He’ll just have to figure out to convince them when the time comes, to make himself out as a cunning businessman.

“… Alright.”

Mingi started to glow before Hongjoong even finished giving his permission. His horns shot out from his messy, tangled hair, and his tail uncurled out of nowhere. The dragon gave a sign of relief as he stretched out his body. Even just having his horns and tail out felt like he could breathe easier like stepping out of a cramped elevator or finally exiting a cage after hours of travel. He couldn’t wait until the next time he could fully revert back to a dragon and move about in his true form. He felt the others’ eyes on him as he was perhaps a but too dramatic with a full-body shiver to really shake everything out and get all his limbs loose.

“What; have you ever stuffed yourself into a skin that wasn’t yours? It’s not exactly pleasant to hold for long.” He said with a scowl and the humans scattered out the door. Mingi felt a bit bad about scaring them off, especially when Jongho refused to meet his gaze one last time as they all left the room. But he didn’t dwell on it, not now when the path to his goal finally became clear again. Learn the dance. Perform his best. Impress Hongjoong. Become an idol with Jongho. He started up the video again and got to work.

//

The car ride over to the photoshoot site was tense and quiet. Jongho kept to himself, looking out the window just as Yunho and Wooyoung did the same while Hongjoong typed furiously at his phone, switching between several text conversations as fast as he can and they all avoid having the same conversation in person in the car. Jongho knew that Seonghwa was definitely one of the people Hongjoong was currently juggling, most likely chewing him out over this dumb challenge from the other car. He could only guess that his other conversations included the buildings security staff, their choreographers, someone from the management staff.

Hongjoong had forgotten to turn his phone back to silent and his rapid-fire typing sounded like a lone holding out his own against enclosing enemy lines. It was maddening to listen to, but Jongho already felt like he was to blame for all this trouble in the first place so he wasn’t going to push. Of course, it would be Yunho who caved first.

“Hongjoong-hyung, aren’t you being a little harsh about this dance challenge with Mingi? HALA HALA is a really hard dance and even we didn’t learn it in a week. There’s no way he can do this.”

Jongho perked up in his seat. That certainly wasn’t what he expected his team member to say even if it was the smallest bit in favor of their dragon charge. He wasn’t too surprised that it would be coming from Yunho though.

“Yeah, he can’t and that’s a good thing.” Wooyoung cut in before Hongjoong could even look up from his phone. “He’ll lose, maybe realize that he’s not cut out for this shit and that we don’t like him and finally stop lurking around. It’s brilliant, good thinking hyung.”

The young idol had whipped around from the window to cling to the back of Yunho’s seat and challenge his friend’s sympathy with a heavy stare. Ever since the dragon showed up, Wooyoung had been the most vocal about expressing his distaste for this scheme of Mingi joining them as an idol. He thought it was ridiculous to even consider letting a strange, violent beast join their group just because one of them accidently promised a lifetime of passion and happiness when they met the dragon as a kid nearly a decade ago. And when he put it like that, Jongho would have to agree that they were all the crazy ones for not immediately conceding to him. It was simple; Wooyoung was never one to count his eggs before they hatched and this one started off smelling rotten.

“We don’t dislike him.” Yunho gave a weak defense, hedged over the implication that he already didn’t like someone with getting to know them first. But Yunho had lost sleep to dreams of looking down a dragon’s open maw and falling past rows and rows of sharp teeth these past few weeks. But he didn’t dislike Mingi. Yet.

Wooyoung wasn’t impressed with his half-hearted argument. He slipped his stare over to Jongho who groaned internally. He didn’t want to be a part of this; not when his emotions were so tangled over it.

“But he makes you uncomfortable, right Jongho-ah? You know you don’t owe him anything right?” Wooyoung said leaning closer to him as if he can press the answer he wanted out of the maknae. Jongho gave a shrug, still looking away. Didn’t he owe the dragon something though?

“No, he doesn’t bother me. Just don’t really know him that well either. I guess that’s the only part that makes this weird. We’ve all known each other for years in some way before we debuted. He just kind of popped out of nowhere.”

Wooyoung sighed also not impressed with his dodgy, noncommittal answer. He swept back his hair with a frustrated hand and sat with a pout. Clearly all of his members have started huffing paint behind his back and were only just now telling him about it. “Whatever, doesn’t change the fact that he can’t do it.”

“Have you seen him dance, Wooyoung?” Hongjoong asked still not looking up. Wooyoung flushed but managed to shoot right back at him.

“No, but he can’t just learn skill, talent, charisma, and performance in a week. No one can, not even magical alien dragons.”

“He’s not an alien.” Hongjoong sighed for the hundredth time. “But that does remind me; Yunho, I need you to check on him when we get back to make sure he’s not using magic to help him master the dance.

“What! I don’t want to be a spy. What if he wats me cause you’re not around?” Hongjoong just looked at him from across the aisle. The leader was grinning mischievously again, and Yunho could understand why even a dragon could feel apprehensive about being on the receiving end of Hongjoong schemes.

“You’ll go down and give him one of the iPads we use for practice, and while you’re there you can just check on him a bit for me. Unless, of course, if you don’t want your phone back.”

“That’s why you gave him my phone?” Yunho whined. Just because he was curious about the dragon’s whole deal didn’t mean he wanted to spend his free time babysitting a beast. “Hyung, you’re mean.”

“Ya, I actually need my phone as you can see. All you do is collect unsettling reaction memes. Don’t be a coward, he’s not going to eat you.” Hongjoong returned all his attention back to his phone, fingers picking back up their machine gun pace from before. Seonghwa hyung must really be laying into him about every way this could go wrong.

Jongho glanced at the back of his leader’s head, trying to drill through to his brain with just his eyes/ He had a feeling that Hongjoong wanted Yunho to be the one to watch Mingi for a reason, but he couldn’t figure out why yet. He pressed his fingers into his forehead. It was only the morning, but he already had a headache.

//

Yunho steeled himself as he stood outside the practice room door. He could hear shoes scuffling and squeaking across the wooden floor and knew that the dragon man was still in there and still practicing. This shouldn’t have surprised Yunho since it wasn’t like the dragon had anywhere else to go and he certainly wasn’t welcome back at the dorm. But he had hope that the dragon would be gone or at least taking a break by the time he came by.

It was past 8pm the boys themselves had only just got back to the dorm, but he didn’t mean to have to interrupt. He didn’t want to do anything that would make the dragon angry at him. For a minute he tapped around at the iPad in his hand, still hopeful that the dragon may stop soon, but then his stomach growled with hunger. He rallied up his most confident, disarming smile and opened the door.

The dragon didn’t immediately snarl at Yunho as he breached into his practicing bubble which the idol counted as a win in his book. Then he realized that the dragon hadn’t noticed his presence at all. Instead, his sharp eyes were trained on the mirrors running along the wall, and Yunho was left in awe.

Mingi danced like he’s been practicing for years. His movements were sharp, each step of the choreo hit with their own impact that Yunho could feel reverberate in his own chest. And he can control over his entire body, popping it where he needed it to and isolating the move appropriately. These were not the movements of a beginner. It was also fascinating to watch how the dragon’s slithering, spaded tail flowed after his body, not quite dancing on it own, but still following along to the beat.

As he stepped away from the wall, Yunho had forgotten entirely about his quest for his phone. His gaze was heavy with careful critique while he watched Mingi work through the song huffing each breath. He was impressed, but as clear as it was that Mingi a novice dancer, the moves still weren’t quite right. A few too many steps taken here, a softer touch needed there, a wrong angle to the hit somewhere else. They were small things, only tiny adjustments that any dancer would need to tweak, but small things always added up.

But besides those small tweaks, Yunho immediately noticed that Mingi was learning the entire dance flipped backwards. Instead of flipping the stage directions for the dance correctly to account for the video recording, Mingi was copying directly everything he saw in the video. Where they would move as a group to the right, Mingi bounded over to the left following along with what he saw on the screen, and this made Yunho pause.

He frowned deeply at the mistake, because while it an easy one to make and common amongst beginners. It was also a hard one to unlearn. It was hard to override what the body had already learned especially with something as exhausting as dance. The more they danced, the more tired they became, and the harder it becomes to monitor how their body is moving with any semblance of brain power.

“What do you want?” Mingi interrupted Yunho’s train of thought. He had stopped dancing to instead pant in an attempt to catch his breath with his hands on his knees. An impromptu break now that we noticed Yunho was in the room, watching him. Yunho wondered what was he so private about his dancing for, then he remembered Hongjoong’s second request for coming down here: check for any cheating with magic. That could easily explain why Mingi was so far along in learning their choreo and why he executed the moves with a dancer’s practiced grace.

But from the time when Mingi went berserk in their apartment, Yunho remembered an electric zing running up his skin when those magic runes lad appeared in the air and the unnatural shiver that tore through his body at the presence of a force so out of place in his world. He felt no zing or shiver now nor when he had first entered the room and Mingi had still been dancing unknowing of his arrival. And Mingi was certainly working himself to his limits and well past them. He was breathing hard and looked exhausted standing on his feet. But how could he know for sure? He didn’t know what tricks the dragon could have hiding up his sleeves.

“I wanted to get my phone back. Here.” Yunho held out the iPad he carried for Mingi to take in exchange. Mingi immediately swept forward to take the larger screen, asking for the password with his eyes glinting to be able to see the dance more clearly. Yunho thought it was cute.

The dragon side-eyed him as he handed back over the phone and charger. “You’re one of the main dancers, right?”

“Yeah, I’m Yunho. In charge of performance as we call it.” He bowed as he realized that they never really exchanged names due to all of the craziness and threats of murder from before. They had just assumed that Mingi knew all of them since he followed the group, but Yunho felt a strange, sad pang of jealousy when it became clear that Mingi only knew Jongho and Hongjoong. Did he really just fall into the background like that so easily when he was supposed to be a leader in their group?

After a beat, Mingi bowed back stiffly. Yunho didn’t know how their customs could remain so foreign to the dragon if he has been living here for 10 years, but he bit his tongue on it.

“I’m Mingi.” The dragon mumbled, and Yunho had to giggle to himself a bit.

“Um, I know.” He only knew two things about the dragon: one, he was a being of great magical power and two, his name was Mingi. Maybe he knew three things about him now, the third being that he was a great dancer. But something was missing. Mingi may have been dancing most of it right but something wasn’t clicking that Yunho couldn’t put his finger on. Maybe it was a lack of smoothness or style. A lack of energy or swagger to make the whole performance pop. He’d have to watch the dragon more to figure it out, but already this was awkward and painful as fuck.

“So, I saw you dancing. You’re a lot better than we thought you would be.” His voice was pitched all wrong, too high and strained. Fuck, why couldn’t he just talk to the guy? “I just practiced a lot.” Oh, that’s right, because it was like talking to a brick wall. Mingi gave him a pinched look as if Yunho was a particularly annoying thorn in his side, and true to a thorn’s nature, he dug in.

“You practiced our dances before you came here? How did you do that? Thought you were at some military base the whole time.”

“I had free time.” Jesus Christ, why does he do this himself? Just as Yunho was able to drop the matter and turn away, Mingi pointed to the mirrored wall. “Having this mirror helps a lot. I didn’t have that.” “They didn’t let you have a mirror?”

“I suppose they thought a dragon wouldn’t need a mirror, and I wasn’t going to push my luck and ask for one,” Mingi said while he went up to the mirror to lightly scrape one of his nails against the surface. A human fingernail would do no damage, but Yunho could imagine the awful noise that would come from one of the dragon’s claws scratching across the mirror. It was hard for him to imagine that a mirror could become a precious resource to someone; that its use had been made a privilege.

“It’s would just be a mirror; they probably would have given it to you.” Yunho said, absentmindedly, and he just as quickly regretted it. The dragon’s glare was much sharper than his claws, and it was clear his patience for Yunho’s dilly-dallying was running thin.

“I wasn’t exactly in the position to be making demands when I was begging for amnesty in your world. Anyway, getting the videos of Jongho’s music performances were the first priority. And they barely trusted me enough to give me those.” He growled.

“But it costs them nothing to give you those things. I feel like after years and years of observing you they would have lightened up a little bit and gained some more trust in you.”

“Well, they didn’t. It took you humans 10 years to trust me enough to join your civilization. And that was when I was on my best behavior.”

“This is your best behavior?” Yunho chuckled along at his own joke. He coughed it off under his breath. Mingi didn’t even crack a smile instead he only looked bored, bouncing on the balls of his feet and staring into the mirror. Yunho brushed right along. “I wasn’t a part of it. I would’ve trusted you.”

Mingi leveled him a half-hearted glare; they both knew that Yunho barely trusted the dragon enough to stay in the same room as him, and definitely not enough to even try to invite him back to their dorm.

And even still the problem of the dragon’s lacking presence while dancing still wriggled around in the back of his mind. Yunho frowned as he kept trying to figure it out, unable to stop trying to fix the unknown problem. while Mingi was executing each move mostly right, his whole performance was lacking a bit of life. HALA HALA was their hypest song, yet as Yunho had felt no excitement from watching the dragon dance. Impressed at his skill, but not awed by his performance.

Yunho kind of wanted to stay and watch him figure out their other choreos, but he was positive the dragon would shoot him down. Mingi hardly wanted to share how he taught himself to dance if his cagey demeanor was anything to go by; Yunho figure his desire to dance for him was much less. Sure enough, Mingi gave him a curt nod and turned around, dismissing him from the room without another word.

Yunho stared after him incredulously; sure Mingi didn’t want to share his dancing until it was time, but then why would he ask him if he was a main dancer if he wanted nothing else from him? Hongjoong was concerned whether Mingi could dance without magic, but he never said that Mingi couldn’t have help. Yunho may have still been scared of Mingi, but he also wanted to watch the dragon dance some more. He realized that he actually wanted that a lot.

“Hey, do you have any questions about the dance? I’m happy to help.”

“No.” Mingi said immediately. He didn’t even consider the offer. Yunho wasn’t mad. He wasn’t. But he didn’t leave the practice room yet.

“Are you sure? Our choreography for HALA HALA is pretty tough. It combines some really specific elements of Krump and hip-hop styles–“

“I don’t need your help.” Mingi turned away from him with his arms crossed. It was clear that the dragon wouldn’t restart his practice until he left. He didn’t trust Yunho enough to show him his dancing even if Yunho had clearly already watched him practice. It didn’t make sense to him. Most people considered Yunho a soft man. He was friendly with everyone and well-liked wherever he went.

People didn’t distrust him. The fact that Mingi did so blatantly made him unsettled inside. They may not have started on the best terms, but he was putting his best foot forward now only to still be rejected. That was irksome.

Mingi may be impressive considering the level they thought he was at, but he wasn’t performance ready and he certainly won’t be close to their standards if he kept practicing the way he was. The dragon should recognize how valuable his help really was. Yunho glared right back at Mingi through the mirrored wall as he stomped towards the door.

“Fine, but you’re learning the whole thing backwards, oh great Mingi-sunbaenim.” He left in a huff, somehow more at odds with the beast than when he had come down here. He blamed it on the affect that Mingi seemed to bring out the worst in people. He continued to work himself up over the whole interaction on his way back to the dorms until he slammed the front door behind him.

//

The studio should be a happy place, because it’s where Jongho can do what he does best. He gets to sing as loud as he wants for as long as he wants. But it’s not a happy place, because it has become the place where all he does is learn what he can’t do.

_Breaking the wall O-oh_

They’ve been at it for the past hour now; how high can he hit that note? How long can he hold it? The answers are not high enough and not long enough. If the stony looks on their producers’ faces are anything to go by. Jongho tries to remind himself that they’re just in the zone, working out the puzzle that is every new song. Yet their frowns make his chest feel tight. They’ve kept Wooyoung and him late in the studio every night this week so far just to parse out the final climax of the song. It was still unclear who was going to take which part.

_The place_

_Where someone has to go_

And whatever they decide was going to affect how the choreography was going to play out, determine how much room they would have to play with. No one on their was a weak dancer by far, but it was never easy to hold a note steady while performing their third jump kick in a row. Jongho could do this though; he knew that he could give them what they were looking for. His voice just had to cooperate.

_Although it's not easy_

They were taking a break to give their throats a chance to rest while the producers fiddled with their keyboards, seeing what they could change around. Wooyoung was texting on his phone as he sipped from his water and there was that tightness in Jongho’s chest again. Because there was also the Mingi situation. That was his fault too. He didn’t know if Wooyoung was complaining to Seonghwa, egging their hyung on to continue badgering Hongjoong about the risks of the situation or if he was going straight to their leader, chewing his ear off. He could just be venting to San or Yeosang about the whole, but even that was enough to put Jongho on edge.

He could lean over and check what exactly his bandmate was doing, but he knew that Wooyoung was still very upset about letting Mingi try to join Ateez after the dragon tried to blast them all away. It didn’t matter that their apartment was set back to normal or that it had all resolved semi-peacefully. Hongjoong had a sore neck for 5 whole days afterwards and the bruises to match. Almost sprained it even. Wooyoung didn’t forget shit like that. Jongho kept his lips shut and fought down the urge to apologize to his hyung. Words would do nothing to solve the problem; he had to accept responsibility and work to smooth it out as best he can.

Nobody in the studio was smiling and Jongho found it had become hard to swallow. There were too many people in their small workspace, and they were all upset with him in one way or another. It was getting too tight.

Jongho went into the hallway to catch his breath. It wasn’t much better out there either. The wall was at least cool against his back, grounding him as his thought continued to spin away from him. He pinched the bridge of his nose; he wished that he could remember more from about his first encounter with Mingi, so he could maybe figure out just what the dragon wanted from him. What did he say all those years ago that made Mingi want to be with him so badly? Was the dragon asking for a partnership? A friend? The dragon had said something about being a family, but what exactly did he mean by that?

And why was he so set on becoming an idol at all? Perhaps maybe it worked as a motivating dream to help the dragon push through a painful recovery, but then why not come to his senses already now that he was fully healed and able to pursue something he was actually interested in? Jongho had just been a kid then; he couldn’t become someone’s entire reason for living. That was absurd. That was too much. He won’t do it. He can’t do it. He can’t do any of it. He had been a nobody then and he was a nobody now. How could Mingi wanted to be with him so badly when he’s barely living up to the title of the team’s main vocal. He couldn’t be responsible for someone else’s dream; he could barely accomplish his own. It doesn’t made sense. He can’t do it. Can’t.

Jongho squeezed his eyes shut, but in their darkness, he could see himself standing up on a stage where he’s trying not to cry though his bottom lip wobbled uncontrollably. He was just a couple of years younger on the idol trainee show Mix Nine. Propped up in the spotlight, he was a fool as he was quickly eliminated from the show with a low vocal score. Everyone was staring at him. His team was staring at him, disheartened in the audience. Mingi was staring at him, eyes full of hope built on a faulty promise. He can’t do it. He can’t do it.

Then the spotlight faded into the dying rays of the sun just before night. The audience members transformed into trees as he was ripped from one memory into another. He was much younger now, resting on his knees as his hands petted along a large scaly snout. Mingi laid out before once again in his real dragon form. Broken and bloodied, just waiting for death as he laid on the forest floor. Jongho could tell that the dragon had liked his song, yet panic still swept through him as the sun finally disappeared under the horizon.

“Please, please, get up.” Jongho started to cry, salty tears dripping into his pleas. “Don’t just die, Mister Dragon, please. You have wings, can’t you fly yourself to a hospital and you’ll get better!”

Slowly, one of the great wings resting against the dragon’s body unfolded and what Jongho saw only made him cry harder. Dozens of holes had been ripped through the leather skin of the wing, some tiny but other’s bigger than his own head. From each one blood dripped into a steady black stream.

“Can your human doctors fix this?” Mingi rumbled. He was able to hold up the wing for a minute or two, but then is collapsed outstretched to the ground. Blood flew and a few black drops landed on Jongho’s cheek. They mixed with his tears and he started to shake. His head dropped to rest on Mingi’s snout. “If I try to fly again, my wings will be completely shredded. Then I’ll just be an overgrown, disgraced lizard crawling around on the ground. And still die.”

“No, they’ll help you. And you’ll have the rest of your life to live! I don’t want to die. You don’t want to either,” he said, despite being a child and knowing nothing of the dragon in front of him. “I-I’m going to become an idol and sing to make people happy. Get up, what do you want to do?”

Mingi didn’t even crack open his tired eyes. “There is nothing here for me to live for. You humans will not allow me to live in peace, and I do not belong in his world.”

“Well… well!” Jongho hiccupped through the sobs. He pounded his small fist against the weathered scales as he stared up at the dragon. “Then become an idol with me! Everyone loves idols; they’ll have to love you too!”

To his surprise, Mingi was finally looking back at him. “An idol?”

“Yes! They’re perfect people who sing and dance or rap and they make people laugh and they’re super pretty, and they get to be on the biggest stages with the biggest crowds” Jongho didn’t even realize that as he spoke he came closer and closer to the dragon until he was staring right into Mingi’s eye. The twilight around them had grown cold. The trees rustling on every side. With his face stained and still wet, Jongho continued to beg. “Please Mister Dragon, you have to try. You can’t die. I c-can’t die.”

“I don’t make people happy,” Mingi said.

“Of course, you can.”

Mingi blinked in surprise. Then he stared at Jongho for a long time. “We can be idols together?”

“We can live together. Help each other to be the best we can be. And spread love to everyone.”

Could dragons smile? It was scary as Jongho watched the corners of his mouth raise to reveal sharp fangs one by one, but nevertheless; he found that they can.

“You’ll sing to me forever, child?”

Jongho nodded his head frantically. The dragon huffed.

“Okay, one more song for now then.”

As Jongho began to sing, Mingi unfolded his other wing and with a groan of pain started to stand. He tilted his head for Jongho to climb on, even as he strained to reach all of his notes. Each flap of the dragon’s great wings sent a spray of black into the air, but they rose above the trees together. When Jongho had finished his song, they were high enough to see the glow of his family’s campsite. Mingi’s deep voice sounded like it was laughing.

“It would be a shame if this world lost such a lovely voice.”

Jongho’s eyes flew open with a strangled gasp. He was crouched on the floor, hyperventilating into his bent knees. The judgmental gazes from an invisible audience still stuck to his skin and Mingi’s words still echoed through his head no matter how much he shook it. His hand came up to scrub at his face, but nothing was there. No warm, black blood.

He stayed curled into his protective ball for a moment longer. So he did make a promise to Mingi. But that look he had seen in the dragon’s wide, green eyes. For a brief moment, there had been joy. It was hard to believe that had been Mingi, that it was the same dragon. He had been so defeated, resigned to die far away from his home with nobody to care for him. Jongho took a deep breath. He had to pull himself together for the sake of his team and his company who relied on him.

The studio door clicked open and footsteps started towards him. Jongho rushed to stand up as he quickly rubbed away any unshed tears. It was Wooyoung who stood in front of him.

“Hey, are you ready to start again?”

Jongho only nodded, not trusting his voice to remain steady enough to answer. He hummed a random tune to warm it up for recording as they headed back. His hands still trembled in his pockets. Wooyoung eyed him as they walked.

“Are you okay? What were you doing out here?” Jongho forced a smile as he held open the door for his hyung to usher him inside.

“Just needed a moment to cool down. It’s so hot in here.”

Wooyoung pursed his lips but said nothing. He didn’t believe him; Wooyoung knew him better than that, and Jongho could see the wheels clicking together in his head. But they didn’t talk of it again, because now they were back in the studio. In here, they only reached and strained to be better. Over and over again.

//

Wooyoung was stewing. That much was obvious for Yunho to tell. He didn’t join San for videogames. He didn’t spend his dinner with Yeosang either. Yunho sat back and observed as Wooyoung didn’t even verbally spare with Hongjoong over the Mingi issue all day. Instead, Wooyoung just kept his eyes on Jongho. All. Day.

Maybe something happened last night at their extended recording session with the producers, but Yunho wasn’t going to poke at whatever it was. But when he walked past Wooyoung to get something from the kitchen, he saw that he was watching their HALA HALA performance on his phone. There was a whole playlist of them. And he knew that this wasn’t going to end well; he just didn’t expect to be dragged down with it.

“Do we have a comeback date yet?” Wooyoung asked a haggard Hongjoong who was slumped over his phone at the dining table. Poor guy. Yunho guessed the management team wasn’t too receptive of his crazy idea to host a magical dragon in the company building either. Their leader raised his head just to blink slowly like he was coming out of the fog od a storm.

“No. They’re still deciding which side-tracks to pull out for the full album. They really want to finish in time for an October comeback, but it’s going to be tight if they don’t wrap up with the title track soon,” Hongjoong finished tiredly. Yunho let out a low whistle. It may still be the end of July now, but that would be tight. He knew that their producers were talking about doing something big for their one-year anniversary, but time was slowly dwindling. Not to mention whether or not they can work Mingi into the mix in time for their next comeback, if the dragon lived up to their leader’s standards at all.

He wished he could help out Hongjoong in his crusade, but he didn’t quite understand it himself and had no idea how they could convince a whole company to take a chance with them. Especially when they were a rookie group still fighting to cement themselves in the industry. But he didn’t have time to dwell in his sympathies for long; Wooyoung turned to him with a small smirk on his face.

“Well if it’s going to be soon, then we should start reviewing all of our choreos, right? Main dancers should stay ahead of this stuff after all.”

“Uh.”

But Wooyoung was already tugging him towards the door intent on doing some dance practice, doing it with Yunho, and doing it right now. A sinking feeling pulled on his gut as Yunho reluctantly put on his shoes. Wooyoung was right of course, they should start feeling out their old choreos to stay on top of their game for when the time comes, but there was something else to his member’s hastiness that didn’t seem right. Hongjoong gave them a suspicious look as they went out the door. But he said nothing, didn’t call them back to give a warning or to probe further. And they were off with Wooyoung tightly gripping Yunho’s hand as they walked to the elevator. Refusing to let him get away.

They went straight to the practice room. The one Mingi was using to practice for Hongjoong’s test. Music pulsed from the room, slipping out under the door. The sinking feeling climbed its way from Yunho’s stomach to his heart as Wooyoung yanked the door open and barged inside.

It was as if the dragon hadn’t stopped dancing from the minute Yunho had stormed off two nights ago. He was still spinning around the middle of the practice floor, still in the same shirt and jeans, still dripping with sweat, and still lost in a trance of music and movement. And he was dancing in the right directions this time. Yunho could see the little bit of hesitancy still in most of the steps as Mingi worked to ingrain his body with the choreo as he had before. Yunho was amazed at how much progress he had already made so far, and the same excitement from last time bubbled up as he watched the dragon dance. But Mingi stopped the minute he heard Wooyoung’s loud voice.

“Ya, we’re going to need the practice room for tonight.”

Mingi nearly tripped as he halted mid-spin. He prickled at Wooyoung’s aggressive tone but said nothing. Yunho glanced between them, eyes wide and unsure of what to do. Hongjoong wasn’t here to stop another fight from breaking out, but Wooyoung didn’t seem to care as he swept in towards the speakers as if he had every right to the place. Because in a way he did. They were the idols after all; they had seniority. This was their job that they had to work constantly no matter the needs of some pining stranger.

But there was another practice room that they could use; a smaller one a couple of floors down that they used to have to use when they were just trainees. It may have been way farther from the vending machines, didn’t have decent air conditioning, and a persistent stench of mold and feet, but it wouldn’t kill them to use it again for a couple of days to let Mingi practice in peace as a guest in the nicer studio. Yunho started to whisper this to Wooyoung who cut right over him as if he hadn’t spoken at all.

“There’s another practice room for you to use that should be empty right now. Since this is our official dance studio, this is where all of our tracks are stored for us to practice. I’m sure you understand.” With that, Wooyoung unplugged the iPad, and the music cut off abruptly. The silence in its place was tense as Wooyoung walked over to shove the device into Mingi’s hands. For a brief moment, Yunho saw black claws curl around large screen but then they were gone, replaced by Mingi’s normal, human fingers. His face was expressionless. So was his voice as he spoke.

“I do understand; I can go. Where is this other practice room?”

Wooyoung had already turned to the mirrored wall to begin his stretches. “Oh, use the closest stairwell, it’s to floors down, go left down the hallway, take the first right then another right and it should be the fifth door after the conference room on your left.” He called over his shoulder.

Both Mingi and Yunho stared at Wooyoung in disbelief, but the man just bent over to warm-up his hamstrings. He didn’t even offer to walk Mingi down to the other practice room even though they all knew Mingi would be stumbling around the building with shit directions like that.

Even so, Mingi gathered up his flannel jacket and left, quietly clicking the door shut behind him. Yunho couldn’t look him in the eye as he went; he was too ashamed of his friend’s rude behavior but unwilling to go against his wishes. They were a team after all. Mingi was not. But as soon as the dragon was gone Yunho rounded on Wooyoung.

“What the hell was that about? You don’t have to purposefully be a dick Wooyoung.”

“Oh, don’t tell me you're actually on his side too,” Wooyoung groaned out as he rolled his shoulders. They locked eyes through the mirror. “Why do I, the established idol, the one who’s earned my title and place, have to give up my practice room to some freak who broke into our house? How does that make any fucking sense?”

“He’s already here Wooyoung. You can’t just make him go away, and we’re all just trying to deal with him.”

“Oh my god, why not? He’s done nothing but hurt people since he got here. Why are you guys so quick to forgive him. That dragon isn’t going to help us!” Wooyoung started to shout and Yunho took a step back. His friend was really angry, and he didn’t know what he could say to make him feel better about all of this.

“Why are you so hung up on that? Hongjoong hyung is already over it himself and he’s asking us all to do the same.” Yunho really didn’t like to fight; his heart wasn’t made for it. His skin crawled uncomfortably as Wooyoung turned to face him for real. His eyes were angry, but his lip was unsteady, trembling as he defended himself.

“Oh, it was just Hongjoong hyung, then why did I find Jongho crying in a hallway by himself last night?”

“What?” Yunho paused, as he chewed on a fingernail. So that was why Wooyoung had been watching Jongho like a hawk all day. But it still didn’t add up; Jongho didn’t seem to object to Mingi’s attempt to join them. He may be a little quiet around the dragon, but he didn’t shut down the whole thing like Wooyoung was trying to do. “Did Jongho tell you that Mingi made him cry?”

Wooyoung blinked but didn’t falter any further. “No, but why else would he be crying?”

Yunho paused again. Really it was hard to picture the kid crying over anything. Jongho wasn’t just their physically strong maknae. He was mentally strong too. The first time Yunho ever saw him cry was when they got their first win on Music Bank. Yunho didn’t have an answer for Wooyoung, so he hung his head and shrugged. “Well, we don’t really know…”

Wooyoung scoffed and turned back to the mirror. “Whatever, we’re already here anyway and we do have to do this. Are you going to dance with me or not?”

Now torn with guilt on both sides, Yunho put on some music and joined Wooyoung in his stretches. Doing his job as an idol did come first. But he’d be damned if he just left this conflict continue to fester like this. Someone had to give, and he won’t just cower in the background any longer.

After an hour and a half of dancing, Wooyoung had gotten what he wanted. The two main dancers had worked through the choreography for their entire published discography, and to neither of their surprise they were still in tip top shape. Yunho made a mental note to get the entire team to practice Treasure for an afternoon though.

The two laid out exhausted on the dancefloor; their tireless breaths even syncing up together. But Yunho couldn’t rest for long. With cracking ankles, he pulled himself to his feet and tossed over Wooyoung’s water bottle. Then he made for the exit exhausted for the night.

“You’re not really mad at me, are you?” Wooyoung asked his voice soft.

Yunho sighed. “No. Just stressed about all of it.” He walked over to hand him a towel to wipe himself off. “You’re good Wooyoung. Don’t worry.”

Then he left. But he didn’t go back to the dorm. Instead, he took the closest stairwell to go down two floors and headed towards the other practice room where they had banished Mingi. Yunho approached the door cautiously. There was no music; not even a faint thrum of noise coming from inside. Hopefully Mingi had actually been able to find the studio and wasn’t still wondering the halls. As he grabbed the handle, Yunho prepared himself to a long night of searching the building for a lost dragon, but tonight he was in luck.

Mingi was sitting on the floor directly across from the door, leaning back against the mirrors. He didn’t even have the iPad in front of him watching on of their videos. Instead, he had a cup of instant ramen steaming in his hands, and Yunho didn’t know why it was so strange to see the dragon finally eating something. Mingi only paused briefly to glance at Yunho as he came in before ignoring him entirely in favor of eating.

“Hello.”

Nothing in response. The dragon continued to slurp down the noodles; five more cups of ramen were stacked neatly beside him and a sixth but empty cup laid at his feet. They were all the bland, original flavor kind the 7/11 below them kept in stock. Yunho didn’t know which he was more confused by, Mingi’s apparent boring taste or the fact he actually interacted with a clerk, another human, to buy something. Unless he stole it. But Yunho shoved down the urge to jump to conclusions and accuse the dragon of anything. If he wanted Mingi to trust him, he needed to show trust in return.

“How do you have money to buy food?” Yunho asked instead. Mingi looked up at him again annoyed at being interrupted from his dinner.

“I mean it would be unfair of your government to kick me out into a new world without the proper resources and assistance. The door to this practice room was locked by the way.” There was a bite to his words that made Yunho gulp. He understood the underlying meaning of Mingi’s bitterness and hung his head.

“Sorry about that. Wooyoung can be hard to handle somethings.”

“You made no move to help guide me down here either.”

Yunho swallowed again. But he knew this; that’s why he came down here. He noticed that the speaker system hadn’t been turned on at all and then realized that he had been the one turn it on in the upstairs studio as well. Mingi didn’t know how to use the speakers. Of course, how could he? He probably barely knew how to use the iPad and the internet as well. He had even told them he never used it directly before. But then why didn’t he ever ask one of them for help if he was so far out of his depth? Probably because he assumed they would all act just like Wooyoung had. Yunho wanted to slap himself; they were all acting so stupid. Strengthening his determination, he walked over to the stand to get it started.

“You’re right and I’m truly sorry for the way that we- that I have treated you. You do need to pass this test, but there’s no need to be so hostile towards you.” He plugged in his phone, and the first few notes of Hala Hala played softly throughout the room. “Please let me make it up to you, Mingi.”

When Yunho turned around, Mingi was staring at him with eyes as wide as saucers. The look actually took him a bit off guard; usually the dragon glared at them all through sharp, slits. He didn’t know that his eyes could become so big, filled with confusion and a kind of cautious curiosity. Wait, was he scared? Yunho didn’t dwell on the hint of fear he may have saw, already convinced it was a trick of the light.

“You apologized,” Mingi said in disbelief.

“Uh, yeah. I’m really sorry dude, what we did wasn’t cool.” Yunho awkwardly scratched the back of his head just to give himself something to do as Mingi was still just staring at him. Then he noticed that Mingi didn’t have any water bottles with him, so he offered his own. He held it in front of the dragon’s face when he was also slow to take it. “I don’t know dragon biology, but if you’ve been dancing so much, you need to be drinking a lot more.”

Mingi looked back and forth between the water bottle and Yunho’s face, then sniffed at its contents before finally sipping from it. Yunho didn’t mind; it was actually kind of cute to watch the dragon be so overly dramatic over something mundane like a metal container full of liquid. In five large gulps, Mingi drained the whole thing; turns out dragons definitely need a lot of water and he was very dehydrated.

“Okay.” He grunted, while wiping at his dripping chin. “Let me finish this cup first, then can you show me how you are able to shake your head so hard without hurting your neck all the time?... Please.”

Yunho smiled and made a mental note to bring down two of his water bottles for tomorrow. They only had four more days to get ready for Mingi’s test and not a moment to lose.

[](https://ibb.co/VVdXF96)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AO3 has stopped counting guest hits on works so please give a kudos and/or a comment <333  
> Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, etc. have likes, and we have kudos!! It won't bite I promise; it will only make my day!!! <3 <3 <3


	3. Popped Bubbles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Big test coming up. Whatever could the come be????? And we finally be getting to some of that fluff tag :3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :3 :3 :3 pretty fast turnaround this time huh? Although this is the last of everything I saved up, so now I need to write all 10k for next time ToT still shouldn't take tooooo long but stay tuned ya know?
> 
> Also this is way too angst-y to not tag it, so now we got the holy trinity of fluff, angst, and smut at the end. Deepest sigh, I really just want to include all these cute scenarios of "what if mingi just happened to be a dragon from another world and wanted cuddles with his big ass wings?" but my brain is like PLOT???? Ya know, like how Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid actually is 0^0 Ugh, so if at some parts the story gets a little bloated and nonsensical JUST LET ME HAVE THIS!!!!
> 
> Also I'm trying to keep this a canon compliant as I can, but there's a goddamn dragon okay? If the timeline seems wrong just eat my ass, okaaaaay? <3

Two nights later and Mingi had come a long way. They had been able to get into the minutia now. The exact angle for an arm, the position of his feet, and appropriate facial expressions for each segment of the song. But there was still something missing. Yunho didn’t know what to call it which made it difficult to figure out how to fix. But it was the same thing he noticed lacking from the first time he saw Mingi dancing to their song. Even if he was dancing the moves right, they still weren’t quite right.

Maybe it was a lack of commitment to the concept of the song or rather just some strange x-factor that’s required for any good performance. Something about it just wasn’t selling it to Yunho so he tried his best to fix it. They weren’t dancing on a stage, but Yunho couldn’t feel any strong stage presence from Mingi as they worked through each step. Trying to explain this to Mingi was even less productive, the dragon just giving him a confused, blank stare. Frustrated Yunho decided to just look up different fan covers of their choreography to show to Mingi.

“Look, all of these people are great dancers and most of them are not professionals or even have never taken a dance class, but do you see how different the choreo looks when they dance it verses when we doing it on stage? You’re not just dancing something someone else gave you to master. As professional performers, we must be bigger than the song and the dance. It’s an extension of our character, but it’s also a statement to everyone who watches. It’s our job to make it so that they cannot look away.”

Quickly Yunho ran through four measures of the dance, and Mingi’s eyes widened as he watched. Each move was clean and perfect, yet there was still an undercurrent of energy that he just couldn’t seem to replicate on his own.

“People will take any excuse to ignore you and all of us together as a group. There’s too much competition battling for their attention, so you need to embody the whole performance even in your toes. That includes the audience, too. There is no performance without them, and their energy is just as important. If they’re lacking, you make up for them tenfold and demand their attention.”

Mingi jumped as Yunho suddenly stomped his foot twice on the floor hard enough to leave a mark. He looked between Yunho and the phone in his hand, still playing a fan dance cover video. He wanted to understand but the dragon just didn’t know how to “embody energy and performance” like Yunho does. He was staring at the screen so hard, bringing the phone just three inches from his face, and as Yunho considered the dragon and the phone, an idea came to him.

“Mingi… have you ever been to a concert?”

The dragon looked up at him with a tilted head. “Not really. I know what they are, but in my world, dragons don’t play instruments, and the humans… weren’t very inclined to let us listen to them. And when I came here, you know what happened.”

“Then I have a treat for you.” Yunho grinned brightly.

The next evening saw them sneaking out of the company building by themselves, Mingi’s horns and tail gone, Yunho’s hood pulled up and over his eyes, and no manager to accompany them. Hongjoong would kill him if he found out, but this was important. He wanted Mingi to do well. 

In the whole city of Seoul, there was no lack of small, public concerts going on. It just so happened that the closest one to them was a part of a neighborhood’s summer festival that had a poppy, J-Rock band as the opening act. The festival was corralled into an open town square with food, drink, and crafts vendors lining the sides with the concert stage at the top of the square. While the stage was small, people spilled out of the square in the late evening sun. Some were just walking by and families strolled between candy stands, but closer to the stage the crowd thickened into a swaying, jumping mass.

Yunho grabbed Mingi’s arm and weave their way towards the people who were dancing. Entering into the crowd was like popping into a massive, bubble separated from the outside world and the air felt more electric and alive. Immediately, Yunho got up on the balls of his feet to bounce along, nit Mingi stood beside him stiff as a board, a stubborn stone against the chaos of a river.

“What are we doing here? I don’t have time for this.”

Yunho stopped the dragon from trying to pull out of the crowd and grandly gestured around them.

“We’re here to have fun. Relax, Mingi.” He then pointed up at the stage where the musicians where jumping along with the crowd as bright lights flashed behind them. “Feel their energy. See how the people around us respond to them? They’re both feeding off the other. Be in the moment with them and you’ll start to feel it too.”

Yunho grabbed the dragon’s arms again and forced him to dance with him. Mingi but his lip and still looked confused as he followed Yunho in pumping a fist into the air.

“But how do you know what to do?”

“I don’t!” Yunho exclaimed as he spun around. “Do what you feel, what your body naturally wanted to do. As long as it doesn’t hurt or scare anybody.” He quickly tacked on.

Slowly, Mingi brought down his arms from over his head to hold them close to his chest, fists closed. He started to swing them from side to side and merely bounced in place as if nervous about bringing too much attention to himself.

“Is this okay?”

It looked a little funny and made Yunho laugh at his awkward shuffle. Nevertheless, he was nothing but proud to see Mingi relinquish himself to the music and to simply enjoy the song with the people around them.

“Yes! That’s great; now remember to just keep it loose.”

With each song, Yunho brought them deeper into the crowd where it became wilder. Everyone was jumping and grooving with each other and soon enough Mingi’s head tipped back to join in on the shouts and hollering that lifted up from the audience at the fast-paced poppy music.  
The two hardly noticed as they danced the hour away, and finally the band came to the end of their set. Loud cheers and applause erupted from the crowd with the dragon by bar being the loudest, becoming swept up in his excitement. The concert announced a 20-minute break for the bands to change, and Yunho corralled Mingi to a stand that was selling water bottles.

“What’s that?” Mingi pointed to a small child messily eating a sugary cone with ice cream sticking out of it.

“Oh, there must be a crepe stand around here. C’mon.”

Once Yunho found the ice cream vendor, he sat Mingi down on one of the square’s benches with the giant confectionary in one hand and a spoon in the other. He may have let the dragon go a little overboard in picking out his sweet creation: inside the crepe was 3 different flavors of ice cream, chocolate, strawberry, and mint chocolate chip all covered in a hefty coating of rainbow sprinkles and slathered with hot fudge sauce. For himself, Yunho was more restrained with a simple vanilla waffle cone. At first Mingi just stared at his dessert as he turned it this way and that to see it from all angles.

“It’s going to melt and drip all over you if you don’t hurry up and eat it.” Yunho warned him in between licks at his cone.

“But it’s too pretty to eat.” Mingi pouted. Still he brought the crepe to his mouth and delicately bit into it. A sparkle lit up in his wide eyes at the crepe’s overpowering sweetness. “Mm!”

He whipped around the dessert excitedly to Yunho and pointed at it with his spoon. “What is this?!” The dragon chomped another bite as Yunho just laughed. This time he ate too much at once and the coldness of the ice cream caught up to him. Mingi clutched at his throat as it felt frozen from the inside out. “Augkr!”

Yunho doubled over in his laughing fit as he belatedly explained to the dragon what brain freeze was. After that, he was much more careful as he ate his dessert slowly, savoring each bite.

“Why is this so good? How do you humans make something like this?” He rambled as he let the ice cream melt on his tongue. Yunho already finished his smaller ice cream cone, and he watched in delight when Mingi got to the mint chocolate chip scoop and lit up in awe all over again. The dragon wiggled in his seat, kicking out his feet in happy paddling since he was unable to contain his joy from eating such a delicious, exquisite, expertly crafted treat. Surely, he had discovered the best thing mankind had to offer. Yunho raised his eyebrows as he looked the dragon over in his happy, unguarded state.

“You’re kind of cute when you’re not actively threatening everyone around you or glaring at people like you’re not so secretly plotting their demise.”

Immediately Mingi shot up to sit still and uptight. He glowered over at his companion, but its usual terrifying effect was greatly diminished when it was delivered over a melting ice cream crepe sandwich.

“I’m taken.” Mingi huffed, licking over his spoon. Yunho rolled his eyes and his own spoon to snag some sprinkles while Mingi growled at him, possessive over his dessert.

“You’re not taken if Jongho doesn’t return you feelings, dude.”

“He doesn’t love me?!” Mingi exclaimed as he jumped up from the bench. Yunho tugged him back down with a sigh.

“No! How could he? He basically just met you and barely knows anything about you. And no, the first time you met doesn’t count.”

“Does he at least like me?”

“I don’t know!”

Mingi deflated in his seat. He didn’t meet Yunho’s eyes as he kicked at loose pebbles and dried-out leaves. Solemnly, he ate the last of his crepe cone, slowly licking the melted remnants off his fingers. He looked so put out, Yunho felt bad for popping his little delusional bubble. He sighed as their shadows stretched longer and longer across the pavement as the sun went down.

“Mingi… why do you love him so much? I don’t really understand how he ‘saved’ you, but you still have once met once. You don’t really know him either.”

At first, he received no answer. Mingi only reached back to rub along his back where his wings would have been with light fingers. There was a faraway look in his eyes maybe even worlds away. But this time he was content to wait for Mingi to come to him once he was ready.

“I landed in your worlds deep, deep in the woods. He was just a lost boy who found me. We should have both died. But I watched his little face fall into fear and despair that once I died then he would be all alone. Then he would die alone with only his foolish dreams to torment his last moments. Yet even after realizing this he did not run away, not in some last-ditch attempt to find his loved ones. He stayed with me, refusing to give up and leave my side. And well… I might be an devil who deserves a cruel fate but not him. Not a child so brave with his kindness, so generous to share his most precious wishes, and the voice of the divine. How could I not love him?”

Yunho let out a shaky breath.

“Why do you deserve a cruel death?” He was afraid of the answer, he almost didn’t want to ask the question, but he also wanted to accept all that the dragon had to offer him. In case he never got the chance again. But Mingi shook his head and reassured him with a pat on one of his clenched fists. That was something he was not ready to give yet. Yunho understood and offered what he could to ease the sad smile that had overcome Mingi’s face.

“You can still get him to like you though. Starting now, I mean. You can hang out and get to know each other and he may like you after all! You should probably try to be friends with him before you go around calling him the love of your life.”

“But he is the love of my life!”

“You need to let him figure out if that’s what he wants too!”

Mingi hung his head in defeat. The next band had set up and started off their set with a round of mellow jam songs, but Mingi was no longer swaying with the moment.

“But how to I do that?” He mumbled so quietly Yunho wasn’t sure if he was even supposed to hear it. He patted Mingi on the shoulder and his hand didn’t tremble so much anymore when he touched the dragon. He found himself completely unafraid.

“I don’t know that either, but you came all this way to be there for him right?”

“Yeah…”

“Then just be there for him. Don’t smother him, but show him the best of yourself. Don’t expect so much from him; Jongho’s still just a kid after all.”

Mingi huffed again, relaxing a bit with Yunho’s advice. “Well, I’m young too, This body reflects my equivalent age in human years.”

“Uh, how old are you? In dragon?”

“3,467 years old. I’m a young, healthy dragon!”

Yunho choked on his water. He wasn’t curious to find out how long a dragon lifespan was. To him it just sounded exhausting to be alive so long.  
In the center of the square, people had started to gather again as the performing band kicked it up a notch with some band covers of some classic Kpop songs.

“Oh I know this one.” Mingi jumped up again; this time to dance out the song’s choreography. He wasn’t dancing seriously nor what it a serious choreo, but he was still playing around and dancing for fun as they had before. But Yunho stared up at him like he solved the proof for one of Einstein’s equations.

“Mingi, you know other Kpop songs?”

The dragon paused in his loose spinning, dropping his hands. “Of course, I had to practice with something before you guys debuted. I learned the dance to almost every kpop song I’ve heard.” As he went back to dancing, Yunho thought back to the HALA HALA fan covers they were watching earlier and Hongjoong slouched over the table, struggling to come up with a way to get the company to accept Mingi into the group.

“How fast can you learn a new choreography?”

The dragon stopped again to look at him curiously. “Like a day or two. But it depends on how hard it is.”

“How about we learn something together to impress Hongjoong even further? A little surprise.”

“Sure, but what?”

Yunho had a brilliant idea. Grinning the entire way back to the studio, he just hoped they had enough time to pull it off.

//

Sitting on the wooden floor of the practice room, Jongho watched Mingi’s thick tail slink back and forth behind him. He didn’t know if that meant Mingi was nervous for his test or whether he should comfort the dragon and make him feel better. He certainly would be nervous if he had Hongjoong’s intense eyes staring him down like that, scrutinizing his every step.

He knew that Hongjoong was only putting up a hard front to intimidate the dragon and to ensure that he knew what he was getting into by joining them. There were going to be a lot of harsh faces and critical words even though those probably won’t affect a 1000+ year old dragon. Nevertheless, it made Jongho want to cheer Mingi on. But he sat quietly instead, too conflicted to say anything in front of his other members. Yet when the music came, all of his worries went away.

One moment Mingi was giving him a small, shy wave, then in the next, he became a different person. He was the chic, captivating young man who had first entered their apartment, yet this time it was clearly a character he was acting out for the song. The transformation took his breath away and he felt a stillness come over the entire group. The dragon moved like he had been dancing his whole life; with precision, he swept across the room to hit his marks in time with the beat and with enough power that Jongho could feel in his chest.

It was really unfair if Jongho took the time to think about it more, but right now he was too mesmerized to care. Mingi was tall and he used that to his advantage to cut an intimidating, broad figure to fit the HALA HALA concept. It seemed only natural that he took up Yunho’s part and while he might not be as clean as Yunho, Mingi danced with an energy with an energy that was unmatched. There was a looseness to his form that made each step of the dance seem to come to him naturally, yet it was clear he had thorough control over his body.

When it came to the first chorus drop where three performers charge up the middle of the stage, Jongho could easily picture Mingi taking San’s place in the formation to further embolden the visual with Seonghwa and Yunho. Their three tallest members striking an imposing picture on their audience that would make them go wild. Ateez had gained a reputation for their demonic performance of HALA HALA, but Mingi actually was a demonic monster dancing amongst the best of them with his curved, black horns, sharp teeth, and red, spaded tail.

Chills broke out over Jongho’s skin just thinking about it. Swathed in reds and blacks, leather and chains, Mingi would be a sight to behold, delivering the most powerful, energizing performance he can. And they’ll all be right there with him, all together as a team. Jongho shivered than immediately blushed. He was getting way too into this.

Moreover, Mingi wasn’t just dancing. He performed. The harsh tone of HALA HALA was executed throughout his body including his face which twisted between devious smirks and cool indifference. And Mingi was not shy about looking each one of them right in the eyes as he grimaced and smoldered and strutted his way around the room. He was having fun with it; he was a true performer, working his hardest to sell the song even to an audience as small as 7. Which was exactly what Ateez does, and exactly what Hongjoong would be looking for.

Just as the song rose towards its hype finale, Mingi threw his head back with his fiery hair flying across his face as he let out a thundering roar. It was not the excited shout that San or Wooyoung would sometimes throw out when they were really feeling a performance. It was 100% authentic dragon roar that erupted from his human frame and rattled their bones. His eyes gleamed in triumph as Mingi gave his all in the last set of energetic krumping of the dance. The roar was a statement; this was the level he could bring them to. An offer to use his raw beastliness in their performance and a chance to truly shock and awe the whole world even well beyond the kpop industry. Song Mingi, the dragon idol from Ateez.

The future was so clear they could each taste it. And they craved for it, even if some of them weren’t ready to submit to that yearning yet. Jongho caught his breath as Mingi finally ‘snapped’ his neck and fell to the floor. The song was over; his test complete. There was a beat of silence as Mingi panted on the floor with all of them too shocked to say a word. Except for Yunho.

“YEAHHHH! Fuck Yeah, Mingi! WOOOO!” The tall giant sprang to his feet, clapping enthusiastically and scaring Jongho enough to choke on his own spit. The dragon gave out a small thumbs up as he was too tired to move. Hongjoong laughed at the pair and started up a small clap that the others were slow to join in for. He got up only to sit right on top of Mingi’s chest to stare straight into his eyes. Besides him, Jongho could feel Seonghwa tense with worry, but their leader paid them no mind.

“Alright Mingi, that was pretty amazing, but let me ask you this first; if you join us, we’re going to work you to the bone, can you handle that?”

“Yeah.” Mingi grunted from under him with a roll of his eyes.

“You’re going to have people from our company poke and prod your hair, face, and body, can you handle that?”

“Doesn’t sound that hard.” Mingi teased.

“Even when our higher-ups evaluate everything you do and say and criticize you? You can handle that?”

“… Yeah.”

“You’re gonna have thousands if not millions of strangers who don’t know you pick you apart like they know everything about you. And because you’re some alien lizard, we don’t even know how they’ll react. But whatever happens; can you handle that?”

Mingi’s face hardened as he leveled Hongjoong with a serious gaze. “Yes. I want to do this. I know I can.”

Jongho was grinning as Hongjoong got off Mingi and offered a hand to help him up. “Okay, then. You passed the test. Welcome to Ateez.”

The dragon surged to his feet and wrapped their leader up into a tight hug, continuing to jump up and down. He was still a little rough around the edges, jostling Hongjoong’s small body in all directions with his overwhelming strength but it was done out of pure overjoyed excitement that one could not stay mad at. Yunho even joined in the jumping hug, the two giants whooping along together and poor Hongjoong caught in between.  
Jongho wondered if it was such a good idea to have another person around with Yunho’s maniac energy, but perhaps the two can entertain each other. They already looked like the best of friends though Jongho had no idea how that had happened.

“Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.” Mingi said into Hongjoong’s hair, then he was turning around to look at Jongho with his wide, toothy grin, and suddenly Jongho’s hands felt all sweaty. Maybe it was from the sparkling light in Mingi’s eyes that shimmered so brightly it made him want to be the one to make Mingi light up like that every day. Stupid thoughts, he didn’t have time for such things, so he quickly looked away and squashed down his smile. He cannot encourage this and continue to give Mingi false promises and hope. He had to set boundaries; he was only happy because this means he kept his first promise to Mingi, nothing more. He was just glad the dragon wouldn’t be alone anymore. Very innocuous.

So he put himself on the opposite side of the circle when they went around quietly and sometimes tersely introducing themselves. And he wedged himself firmly between Wooyoung and Yeosang at the front of the train to head back to the dorm. And he would have retreated to his room for complete brooding solitude had Hongjoong not ruined his plans with a small self-satisfied smirk.

“Oh, Mingi, you’ll be rooming with Jongho for now.”

“What?!” Jongho exclaimed as the dragon perked up with the excitement of a puppy given a treat.

“You’re the only one without a roommate, Jonggie.” Hongjoong reasoned though Jongho could find nothing reasonable about this at all. They could all switch around rooms; Seonghwa and Hongjoong were always bickering and Hongjoong was the only one who was able to reign Mingi in anyway.  
Or Yunho since he was suddenly all buddy-buddy with the dragon now. But when Jongho desperately looked around to the rest of his members they each turned around snickering and headed off to their own (safe) rooms, leaving him to fend for himself.

“Fine.” He grumbled instead of putting up a fight, and Mingi happily trailed after him into now their room. But the minute the door closed, Jongho whirled on the dragon. “I’m happy you passed and all and glad you’re in the group, but do not try anything funny okay?”

Guiltily, Mingi retracted his hand from where it was about to grab Jongho’s. But surprisingly, he nodded along and muttered in quiet agreement.

“Okay.”

Jongho was a bit thrown off by how fast Mingi agreed with him, but didn’t let the unexpected, soft acquiesce stop him from laying down some ground rules. There was to be no unnecessary physical contact between them which included kisses, hugs, cuddles, scratching, pats, pets, and especially licking. Mingi brought that last one up not him and he shivered in disgust at the thought of a dragon’s slimy tongue licking the sweat from his neck. (“Dude, that’s gross.” “It’s how we say hello!!”) They would divide up the weekends to assign who would keep the room clean, but they were each responsible for their own laundry. (“Don’t touch my clothes please… especially not my underwear!”) And if someone was trying to sleep, the other had to be quiet with the room lights out. (“I can sleep with you…” “U-um, I’m a restless sleeper. Can’t sleep with someone next to me without whacking them in the head, sorry!”)

He showed Mingi the half-empty closet, the desk, drawers, and lastly his bunk. He already slept on the top bunk, preferring to use the extra bed as another place to chuck random clothes and objects to the side. He hastily started to pick up his things to put them away all the while grumping over the fact that his messy living habits have been revealed. He may be on cautious, tentative ground with the dragon, but that doesn’t mean he’s not embarrassed to have to snatch up his dirty boxers from the care bunk.

“O-okay, you can sleep here, and I sleep up there. And since we share this room, we split half of all the space and stuff, so um do you have any other clothes, Mingi?”

He had only ever seen the dragon wearing his one outfit: blacked, ripped jeans, and a red flannel jacket over a graphic t-shirt. They looked… clean enough despite the couple of weeks they had barred Mingi from the dormitory. The jacket was frayed at the sleeves, and the rips in the jeans were starting to less stylish and more organic by the minute, but ignoring all the details, Mingi looked good. The dragon looked himself over and picked at a stray red thread.

“No, I don’t really think of clothes that much. Not very used to them after all.”

Jongho sighed at the implication of just how long Mingi has been wearing the same things but was too tired to dwell on it for tonight. He pulled over an extra set of sheets from the closet.

“Go ask Yunho if he can lend you some clothes for pajamas, and I’ll make your bed.”

“Okay!” Mingi scurried out the room in search of his new friend, but before he closed the door he turned back to say, “Hey, Jongho? Thank you for letting me come here.”

Jongho spluttered, unsure what to say. “I’m not ‘letting’ you stay here. You’ve earned it Mingi. You should go thank Hongjoong-hyung.”

Mingi gave a small smile, a bit flushed in the ears. “Right. Of course.” The door clicked silently behind him.

That night as they went to sleep, Mingi’s tail kept twitching and thumping heavily against the bed as the dragon slept. Jongho wasn’t quite asleep yet, head too full of anxious thoughts to relax. As he stared up at the ceiling, he could feel Mingi toss and turn as he tried to sleep below him. It didn’t sound as if he was having a good time of it either. In his unconscious state, the dragon was muttering under his breath in a strange language Jongho did not recognize.

It must have been the dragon’s native tongue, and while Jongho had no clue what Mingi was trying to say, he could tell that the dragon was worrying over something. He sounded frantic in his whispers, lost deep inside whatever dream plagued him tonight. Then suddenly the entire bed frame rattled as Mingi sat up straight. A loud, choked sound came from the dragon, what might have been a word or a shout cut off just as awoke. Jongho froze up on his top bunk and he listened to the dragon pant and tremble below him. He didn’t know what to do though his heart ached to hear Mingi sound so scared. Did the dragon even know that he was also awake so late at night?

The bedsprings creaked as Mingi laid back down, but his shivering didn’t seem to stop. Jongho bit his lip to stop himself from leaning over and checking on him, too nervous over what the dragon could possibly need from him. It may have been cold-hearted to let the dragon tough it out on his own, but they all had to comfort themselves sometimes and the two barely knew each other. He didn’t even know if the dragon would want or appreciate such attempt at comfort as he thought back to when he met the dragon in the woods and Mingi had essentially told him to buzz off at first. And he had been dying then.

But then Jongho heard a much softer sound and his heart broke in his chest. Quietly, Mingi had started sniffling even as he tried to calm himself down from his dream. He may have been using his pillow or the sheets to muffle the sound further but Jongho still heard and he could not continue to lie there and do nothing.

He started to hum his mother’s lullaby; the same song he had first sung to the dragon all those years ago. It was too late to truly sing in the dorms, but he hummed as best he could, allowing the melody to fill the space between them. The shaking below him stopped, the air becoming apprehensive and tense below as Mingi realized Jongho was awake with him. But Jongho continued on with his lullaby, hoping to comfort the dragon the same way he had before.

Slowly, the sniffles stopped. And the twitching tail calmed. And not a word was spoken even until Jongho heard the faint sound of calm, even breathing from the bunk below. Even when his lullaby ended, Jongho continued to hum another song, and when that one was over, he hummed another. Still humming, he carefully peaked over the side of his bed and found Mingi curled up under the covers with his face smashed into the pillow. But he was also finally asleep. Jongho settled himself back down.

If Mingi didn’t want to talk about it, Jongho wouldn’t make him. For tonight, they could both just sleep. 

//

“Seonghwa.”

Shit. Seonghwa doesn’t stop washing the dishes even as he hears Hongjoong enter the kitchen. It’s a little later into the night after when most of the members have settled down in their rooms if not already sleeping. Hongjoong probably planned to corner him now when he was stuck on dish duty for the night and would have to be at his post at the sink. Just to be a bit of a brat, Seonghwa debated flicking some soap bubbles at his friend, but ultimately decided to just let him say his piece. He gives a curt nod to show that he is listening. It’s not that things are bad between them. Just tense these days.

“I need you to help out a little here. Mingi’s going to need all of our help to get readjusted to our lifestyle, so please can you help me set an example for the others? I can’t be home to mediate things all the time.”

Hearing this, Seonghwa used his nails to angrily pick at a stubborn sauce stain. He wasn’t mad at Hongjoong’s request to be the bigger person though he wasn’t thrilled about that either. In his attempt to win over Seonghwa, Hongjoong had opened up a whole new can of worms.

“Why can’t you come home in the first place? He’s your passion project.” He said, biting out each word. He could hear Hongjoong sigh at him as if even the mere request to come home and spend more time with the team, with his friends, was too much of a burden. He scrubbed harder with his sponge and he almost hoped that the dish would break. Is that what it would take? If someone were hurt, would their leader could home then?

Hongjoong peeled himself from the counter to start drying off some of the plates and putting them away. It may have been an olive branch but helping with chores wasn’t going to be enough. He’d rather bite off his tongue than admit it, but Seonghwa was lonely. He wanted more than a few clean utensils. He wanted his friend.

“I’m sorry, but there’s so much work that still needs to be done; you know I’m trying my best.” Hongjoong started, but Seonghwa wouldn’t let him finish with the same excuses.

“There’s work to be done here. If that’s all you care about.”

“And I trust that you can take care of it. That’s why we’re a team; we support each other.”

Seonghwa had had enough of shallow, sentimental platitudes for the night. He smacked down the plate in his hands and turned to glare at his friend. Or rather his teammate, since that’s apparently all Hongjoong saw him as; as nothing more than a coworker. Did the other seriously not even hear what he said, what he accused him of? Hongjoong was so tunneled vision, Seonghwa wanted to scream. He bit his lip so it wouldn’t wobble. He was angry not sad.

“Fine. I got it.” He wanted this conversation to be over; he’ll make sure the dragon stays in line, because he cares about all of his friends getting along and staying happy. And maybe when Hongjoong remembers to come home, he’ll also remember that before everything became about comebacks and recognition, they used to have fun together too. He had to stop something from scoffing at the impossible epiphany.

“Promise me.”

Seonghwa groaned at the dramatics but shook Hongjoong’s hand anyway.

“I. Got. It. Joong.”

Though the two shared a room, Hongjoong was out cold by the time Seonghwa wrapped up his chores and turned the lights out for the night. They didn’t get a chance to exchange a word.

//

Storms had raged across the continent for weeks and Mingi was exhausted from the harsh travel. Though stormy darkness melded the ground and sky into one indistinguishable landscape, he managed to pick out a small mountain that was riddled with canvas on one side. He sighed through his nose with relief and steered his giant body towards one of the bigger openings. Finally, a place he can rest and keep warm. Maybe even wait out the rest of this storm if it doesn’t take too long to let up.

As he drew closer, a human town settled at the base of the mountain came into view. Most of the buildings seemed to be the small dwellings of peasants though a sizeable stone castle spread out to surround the town with a tall wall and cocooning its subjects inside for safety. This did not necessarily pose as a concern to Mingi. After all the townspeople were asleep after a hard day’s labor and the night was pitch black.

Still, he was careful to cloak himself amongst the clouds and stealthily crawled inside a cave. It was a bit shallow, but it was covered in a soft layer of moss that Mingi collapsed on top of. He curled up tight inside; he fit just right as he snuggled with himself and burrowed deeper against the rock walls. But he was still wet and shivering from the winds and rain, so he allowed himself just one small tendril of fire to drift from his mouth to warm up the cave. He’ll find food later, now he just wanted to close his eyes.  
Soon after, he slipped into a deep sleep.

Several days later he awoke to pain and shouting. He shot up with a roar and before him was an angry mob of the townspeople and knights from the castle. Clubs, hammers, torches, knives, pitchforks, and wide, gleaming swords swung heavily in their hands as they swarmed in from the cave’s mouth. Mingi was trapped.

He roared ferociously once again and the force of it sent a few men tumbling back from him. One knight had already gotten close enough to hack into one of his front legs and a gush of black blood pooled at his feet. He let out a pained scream, the sound of a nightmare. Gritting his teeth at the tearing pain, he knocked the knight hard into the rock wall where the body slumped unconscious to the floor.

Quickly, Mingi lifted his head and blasted a pillar of fire up into the ceiling of the cave, causing dirt and rocks to shower down on the mob. He didn’t want to kill any of these people, he hoped to scare them off instead. But for that his mother would call him a fool.  
Very few people actually ran away and as the crowd pressed closer, he became more desperate. The cave ceiling was too low to fly out of without risking someone flaying him down the gut, so he summoned a spell to send the fallen debris flying through the air in all directions, pelting everyone in the cave.

Shrieks and shouts rose up in a chorus, but from the chaos emerged a long figure wrapped in a fine, silken cloak. None of the rocks touched the unknown person, and Mingi soon realized that they had put up a magical shield to protect themselves. And his blood became ice cold as he froze in terror at the realization of just what the oncoming figure was. When the figure came closer, he sucked in a huge breath to release the hottest, brilliant white flame he could muster. He didn’t care who was caught in the crossfire, he had to scorch this person from the earth.

Yet they continued to surge forward unburnt. And he had nowhere to run up to. Terror. Panic. Anger. He threw everything he had at the approaching stranger, but he was too tired, too weak and hungry and trapped for them and their magic. They made it to his bleeding leg and pulled something from the folds of their ornate clock and then there was only- PAIN. PAIN. PAIN. PAIN.

Blinding searing pain. Mingi woke up in the group dormitory with a pleading yell spilling over his tongue.

“No!”

There was no one there to hear him. The room had no windows, but Mingi could tell it was morning from the quiet commotion coming from outside the door. Jongho had already gotten up and left, but Mingi was not upset by this. He sank back onto the bed and curled on his side. His tail came up between his legs and curled around one of his arms in comfort. His scales looked dull in the dim light, but he counted each one while he tried to remember his breathing exercises to calm his racing heart.

He was glad Jongho didn’t have to witness him so weak for the second time in one day. He had been appalled to realize that Jongho had been awake last night when he had suffered his first nightmare though he supposed that the other would have woken up anyway with all the ruckus he made. He will have to get used to sharing a room with someone; surely Jongho will come to dislike him if he kept disturbing his sleep with pathetic nightmares.

But the figure and their cloak plagued his mind; they managed to still conjure up so much fear inside him even when he was world away.

“You’re fine. You’re fine. Everything is okay.” Mingi muttered into his knees. When he could finally feel warmth spread through his limbs subsiding the cold terror from his dream, the dragon got up to finally join his new team for their first morning meal.

//

The dragon was the last one to emerge from the rooms and come for breakfast. Seonghwa eyed him from over the rim of his tea mug. Frankly, the dragon looked like shit; the bags under his eyes were heavy, dark smudges that made them look hollow, and his bright red hair stood up in all directions as if it had been yanked back and forth repeatedly. Despite having spent so much time out in the summer heat recently, the dragon’s skin had lost all color. Even his usually agitated tail dragged low to the ground behind him. There was just no life, no energy to him, but maybe he just wasn’t a morning person. Seonghwa turned away to avoid eye contact and drained the rest of his tea. 

Yunho’s old neon shirt hung off Mingi’s broad frame like a swath of curtains with the barrowed pair of sleep shorts barely hanging onto his narrow hips. The clothes swallowed him up entirely as he sat down next to their true owner. Seonghwa hadn’t realized the dragon was so lean and thin, lankier with his tall height than a more solid build. Jongho could honestly bowl him over easily and land him straight on his ass if it weren’t for the whole being of mass destructive power thing. He was also surprised to find Mingi keeping his distance from Jongho, instead choosing to sit close to Yunho at the table. That didn’t mean the dragon didn’t glance at his object of infatuation every minute, but Seonghwa will take that over having to pry the dragon off their maknae every time he turned around.

“Morning!” Yunho exclaimed, as bright as ever in the morning with his sleep-flushed cheeks. Seonghwa envied the ease he had at breaking the subtle tension that had followed the dragon into the room. Maybe Hongjoong should have asked him to be his little helper again since Seonghwa was just not as useful. Yunho had kept chattering away. “What do you have for breakfast Mingi?”

The dragon hadn’t reached for any of the spread of eggs, rice, kimchi, jam, or bread scattered across the table. Not even for a glass of water or cup of coffee or tea. Or a bottle of soda if he was more like the heathen 99s who went out of their way to destroy their enamel. The dragon just played with his red tail as he answered.

“The rotting corpses of farm or forest animals we stored with our hordes.”

Silence fell over the table. Even the easy smile from Yunho’s face dropped. Yeosang gagged where he tucked his head behind Wooyoung’s shoulder. Jongho was choking on his coffee with Hongjoong smacking him on the back. A wicked grin spread slowly from the dragon’s face. “Or you know, toast and stuff.”

“O-oh, you know how to use the toaster?” Yunho laughed nervously. Seonghwa was impressed that he hadn’t even scooted away from beside the dragon. Points to Yunho. Mingi gragged the bread bag and pulled out a slice all the while glaring at the toaster as if it murdered his scaly, monster family. Instead, he held the bread slice flat on his palm and blew out a small puff of fire to cook it. Everyone scrambled; Seonghwa could feel the heat of the flame from across the table.

“Jesus Christ, shit!” Wooyoung yelped as he fell backwards off his stool and taking Yeosang with him. But soon enough the fire was gone, and in his hand Mingi held a piece of good even if slightly burned toast.

“I hate that toaster machine; it always burns everything I put in there.” Mingi huffed as he reached for the raspberry jam. And breakfast continued on like that.

Seonghwa shook his head, resigning himself to this new reality they’ve found themselves in. He needed to wake up more for this shit, but the tea kettle needed refilling and it was on the other side of the table. He got up to go get it but it was still a bit out of reach, so he decided to take this opportunity to start being cordial with the dragon.

“Mingi, can you pass me the kettle?”

“You have arms.” Mingi grumbled as he slowly munched on his toast. He didn’t move to pass over the tea kettle at all which made Seonghwa scoff and attempt to raise his fist to hit the impudent dragon. But he restrained himself, for Joong, for his team, and leaned over Mingi to grab the kettle himself. He jerked back in disgust.

“Hey, you, when was the last time you washed yourself?” He said with his nose wrinkled. He actually had to step away to keep himself from gagging. Mingi frowned as he thought about it, even going so far as to count on his fingers. Everyone at the table grew pale as he kept counting.

“Well, I dipped into the sea for a little bit before I first came here to freshen up, but before that… my last actual shower was probably two weeks before I was released.”

Jongho outright gasped at his answer. He had lent this mongrel some of his sheets! They’d have to be bleached now after work today. Seonghwa, brave man that he was, grabbed Mingi’s arm.

“Absolutely not. Nope. Not happening.” He dragged Mingi into the bathroom and shoved a towel at him. “Shower right now. Then you can finish breakfast.” He closed the door, and they all winced at the colorful curses that came from behind it. At least, they weren’t magical ones. Breakfast continued, the boys quietly chatting with each other when not 5 minutes later Mingi returned, still dripping water all over the place and his shirt rapidly becoming see-through. Jongho pointedly look away while sipping his morning tea. Seonghwa was equally not as impressed.

“There’s no way that you can be done that fast. Did you use magic?”

“Magic is too tiring for a task as simple as that. And I’m clearly wet!” Mingi dismissed the idea, but the towel he was using to dry himself off still came away covered in stains, dirt, and otherwise. Seonghwa tutted his tongue as he held up one of Mingi’s arms and pointed out all the leftover grime stuck on his skin.

“You didn’t even do it right. Do it again, carefully this time.”

“I thought showers on this earth were supposed to be fast? They’re not supposed to be longer than 5 minutes.”

“Showers are supposed to make you clean. Did you not bathe on your world? Don’t worry about the time, just be thorough.”

Cursing again, Mingi complied to take another shower. They listened as the shower turned on and the spray ran down the walls. Hongjoong stepped up to his role of mediator.

“You know, he was probably never given much longer than that before since he’s been here since he went right to the military. That’s not his fault.”

“He still stinks.”

No one could argue with that.

Though his second shower was much longer than the first, Seonghwa still pulled Mingi down to sniff at his hair. And though small as they were, mud still streaked along Mingi’s ankles. His nose wrinkled once again. “Did you use the same bottle to wash your hair?”

Mingi blinked.

“You use something different?”

Seonghwa threw up his hands in frustration.

“That’s it! I’m giving you a bath.”

For the first time since he burst through their door Mingi blushed. The tips of his ears started to tint red, and Jongho studiously also ignored this detail as well. As cute as it was, now was not the time.

“What? No!”

But Seonghwa was relentless. He grabbed him to pull him once again to the bathroom, though this time Mingi wrenched himself free and backed up to the wall.

“You can’t! Bathing together is only for family, an-and lovers.” He cast his eyes over to Jongho who suddenly became very eager to help Yunho with the dishes. Seonghwa sighed and captured Mingi’s wrist for a final time while ignoring Yeosang’s compliant that they were wasting all the hot water.

“Well, 8 makes 1 team and all that, so we’re family now. Get. In. The. Tub.”

And so Mingi was locked into the bathroom once more.

The water was hot and steaming as Mingi immediately dipped below the surface. Its warmth was comforting, and he hadn’t realized how cold he had actually been until the water pleasantly heated up his skin. He shivered from the pleasure of it, and suddenly never wanted to get out.

“This reminds me of the natural hot springs on my world. A millennium ago, my mother would take me to these huge craters filled with heated water that came up right from the ground. We’d go just the two of us to soak in them for days on end.”

Seonghwa snorted as he squirted a large amount of soap into a loofah for Mingi to wash himself with. “We have those here as well.”

“Really? I didn’t know that washing yourself here could be so warm and leisurely. I wasn’t sure if you people even knew how to take baths!” Mingi croaked out with his mouth barely above to water to still speak. While sitting there almost completely encased in warmth, exhaustion swept over him, and he forced himself to sit up to keep from falling asleep.

Seonghwa brought his hand to his mouth to clamp down on a gasp. Discolored marks of many, many scars crossed over Mingi’s exposed back in a disturbing pattern of pain and malice. Some were barely noticeable, so small and stretched out with time that they had mostly faded into the rest of his skin. But there were others than rendered Seonghwa speechless. Others that were so long they disappeared under the water level. Others that were broad and thick and made him question how the wound was ever able to close again. Others that trailed up over Mingi’s shoulders or down his arms or around his sides.

There was just so much. Maybe it came with having a lifespan that extended over thousands of years; after all that was a long time to collect hurt. But the excessiveness of it all gave Seonghwa pause. It would be rude to touch, hell it was rude even to stare as Mingi playful splashed the water onto himself, but his stomach felt sick. Something was not right. Mingi grabbed the loofah out of his hand.

“It’s gonna get cold.” He whined, as he started to lather up his torso and covering over the scars. Snapped out of his funk, Seonghwa grabbed for his shampoo and conditioner bottles. He was going to be nice and let Mingi use his precious, expensive products until he got his own, but he did not trust Mingi to know the proper way to use them. So he squirted a generous amount of water-based shampoo into his hand and started his attack on Mingi’s scalp.

The dragon squeaked the minute he felt fingers digging through his red locks and tried to wriggle out of reach. But his body was big, and the bathtub was small. There wasn’t much room for him to escape to.

“Sit still, and it’ll be over faster.” Seonghwa grumbled, and Mingi relented, sitting back and letting the man clean his matted, dirty hair however he thought best.

It was strange to wash someone’s hair when two thick horns were poking out of their head. Seonghwa tried his best to work around them, but when he accidentally knocked against one too hard, Mingi shrank away immediately. “Watch it!”

“What?” Seonghwa demanded, as he grabbed Mingi’s shoulder to pull him back. “They’re just bone right? How could they possibly feel pain?”

“Well… the skin and muscle around them are really sensitive, and, I don’t know, it kind of hurts my whole head like a headache when they throb like that. I mean they are attached to the rest of my body.”

“Oh. I’m sorry then.” Seonghwa went back to work though this time he moved his fingers more gently through the hair between the horns where Mingi tensed up the most. Meanwhile, Mingi continued to scrub his body down, paying extra care to all of his limbs and his traitorous ankles that had gotten him back into the bath in the first place now that he was sitting. Seonghwa felt too awkward to try and talk much, but he did wince to see so much grime come out of Mingi’s hair after the first rinse. It was enough to tinge the water a muddy grey. He went back in for another round with the shampoo before he moved onto conditioner.

When Mingi finished washing his body first, he just had to sit there and bear with Seonghwa’s obsessive attention to detail in his lathering. Every centimeter of scalp was rubbed raw. Twice. He complained loudly when it seemed to be taking too long, but Seonghwa could feel the dragon start to relax under his fingers and even lean into the scrubbing rake of his nails. He can’t imagine that the dragon had ever let someone play with his hair or that anyone had been willing to do so before, but he decided not to comment and let Mingi simply enjoy it in his own silent, clammed up way.

However, when his fingers ran over a thin scar that managed to stretch all the way up under Mingi’s right ear, he heard the dragon mumble something into his knees.

“I’m not too ugly to be an idol, right?” Even when locked away for a decade, Mingi didn’t fail to notice the excessive beauty every idol he had ever seen possess. He had been too focused on getting back to Jongho, he never let himself dwell on his too-large nose or his crooked tooth. But now he was here, and his mind had the space to wander. And it decided to linger on the beautiful reflection of the man behind him who stared with piercing eyes that sat in a perfectly sculpted face. A kind of classic beauty that was intimidating even if Mingi refused to admit it.

Seonghwa outright scoffed at the vulnerable question. “You’re not even close to being ugly. Don’t pity yourself.”

A low growl bounced off the tiles of the bathroom, but Seonghwa wouldn’t be so easily intimidated anymore. He wasn’t lying to make the dragon feel better either. Mingi had very appealing body lines that followed his broad shoulders down to his lean figure and maddeningly tiny waist only to curve again to accommodate thick muscular thighs and long legs. His figure was all lean, subtle muscle while his face became more delicate with plush lips and a perfect, sharp nose. One of his front teeth sat a little crooked, but Seonghwa found the imperfection more endearing than anything else.

In human form, the dragon was a charmer and a dream boat, so much so that Seonghwa actually found himself a little exasperated at his insecurity as he continued to rinse out his hair. “Didn’t you create how you look as a human anyway? Change it, if you don’t like it.”

Mingi shook his head, still bundled up tight. “The spell doesn’t work like that. It distills the essence of my form as a dragon and translates that into what the human counterpart would be. Red scales, red hair, you know. Crooked tooth… crooked fang. This is me as a human.”

“Well… we have hair dye and skin care routines if there was something you wanted to change or something you don’t like. But I don’t think there’s anything that you need to worry about.” He pulled away from Mingi; the dragon finally passing his standards of clean. He lowered his voice and tried to speak as gently as possible. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be staring at your back.”

“It’s fine.” Mingi said, even if he didn’t sound very fine. Seonghwa didn’t know what to say, he wasn’t even sure if he should try to comfort someone so volatile and foreign to him. But he followed his curiosity anyway.

“How did you get things like this?” He didn’t even want to call them what they were. Scars. Wounds. Ruined flesh. He reached out a finger to trace them, but Mingi scooted away before he could graze over the jagged scar running along his spine.

“On the battlefield.” He said curtly.

Seonghwa knew plenty of people who had served in the army. It was a part of his culture and his country’s history, but none of those people had ever seen ‘battle’. Even the phrasing sounded so archaic to him, but its alien-ness only served to stoke his curiosity more.

“So you’ve fought with people before? You’ve killed people?” It was a rude question to ask, but if this dragon was going to eat, sleep, and live with them, then Seonghwa had to know. He didn’t still think that Mingi would turn around and kill them like a heartless, thoughtless, B-movie villain, but there was so much about Mingi that they still didn’t know. The not knowing drive him crazy.

Mingi turned around, his wet hair hanging over his sharp eyes that scrutinized Seonghwa where he sat on the bathroom floor, knees cramping terribly. Those eyes picked him over, pulled him apart, most likely to determine whether or not he was going to use the answer to trick him out of the dorm again.

“They came to kill me first.” He answered, his voice gravelly low. It wasn’t a statement one should question, yet it confirmed Seonghwa’s worst fear. This dragon was dangerous; he had done horrendous things that they could probably never even dream of. Seonghwa couldn’t reign himself in, his sudden fear igniting into simmering anger.

“It’s hard to believe they would do that unprovoked. Is that really how it would all go down?”

Mingi stood up suddenly and turned to step out of the bath. He didn’t care for a towel and dripped water nearly everywhere in his haste. Seonghwa scooted away with a deep grimace from the spray.

“I don’t actually like hurting people.” The dragon said in a low voice as he shook his hair out like a wet dog. “You’re just the same as the humans from my world. So typical to think only of yourselves as the weak, little victims of some plight. I was a being of power. I was just a prize to be hunted by you people!”

“You actually tried to fucking kill us, and you seemed pretty gun-ho about it right from the get go, so excuse me that I don’t exactly believe that you’re some innocent angel. I’m not going to forget about that on account of your word!” Seonghwa didn’t know why he felt so insulted. They hadn’t even been talking about him, but he couldn’t let it go. He didn’t want to be yelling in the bathroom on the first morning when he had promised Hongjoong he could put it behind him.

But he can’t. He didn’t know anything about Mingi and what he did know scared him. The knowing scared him and the not-knowing scared him too. In a flash of hot shame, he could imagine that this was how the humans from Mingi’s world had felt. The ones who had hunted, fought, and hurt him in ways that had left such cruel reminders. The thought made him want to puke up his eggs, but he shoved it down.

He didn’t want to understand Mingi right now, because the dragon didn’t fucking deserve it. Even now in his half-human, half-dragon form, the beast was snapping his teeth in his face.

“Fine! I’m so goddamn sorry for you!” He snatched the towel from the rack and stomped out of the bathroom patting off his still drying body.

“That’s some shitty apology!” Seonghwa yelled from the bathroom door. He could hear Jongho full-on dive behind the couch at the sight of a completely-naked Mingi. Then Hongjoong stood breathless in front of him, looking with bewilderment between the dragon who rushed into his room, slamming the door, and Seonghwa. Seonghwa gave a defensive shrug even as guilt already started to taste bitter in his mouth.

“What happened to a normal fucking bath?” Hongjoong asked him, and Seonghwa only had the energy to sigh.

[](https://ibb.co/VVdXF96)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> <3 Comments and Kudos <3 Make My Day <3
> 
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